Elect Keith Ellison

The “deplorables” despise the Democrats.

A central cause of Sec. Clinton’s shocking defeat to Donald Trump, Clinton’s history of touting neoliberal economic policy precluded her from making inroads in the white working class (WWC). If the Democrats wish to win back the presidency from Trump and the GOP, they must abandon their stale centrism and elect Rep. Keith Ellison—a true progressive—as DNC chairman. By electing Keith Ellison as chairman of the DNC, the Democratic Party can build a coalition of black, Latino and white workers that will help elect Democrats at all levels of government.

Suspicious of Clinton’s rapport with Wall Street, members of the WWC, many of whom voted for Barack Obama in 2012, voted for Trump’s ethno-nationalist program. In the Democratic strongholds of Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania, white laborers rejected Clinton’s moderate economic plan, opting for Trump’s criticism of the “elite” class and his contempt for free trade.

In order to wrest power from the hands of Trump and the GOP, it is imperative that the Democrats steal some of the WWC vote. Only by acknowledging their long-held grievances will the Democratic party be able to appeal to this demographic and take back the Rust Belt.

While many of these WWC voters may be racist philistines, there is assuredly a significant portion of them who could have been swayed not to vote for Trump. Indeed, just because some downscale whites voted for Trump, it does not automatically qualify half of them as “irredeemable.” Instead of haranguing the WWC, the Democratic party needed to convince them to join a Leftist platform that addressed their economic anxiety. It behooves the party to pivot towards a progressivism that does not simply call struggling whites racist but tries to bring them into a broad, inclusive coalition.

Phone banking laborers in Ohio for Sanders’ presidential campaign, I know first-hand how much a message of economic security for all people (black, Latino, Asian, white) can resonate with the WWC.

As polls during the primary hinted at, a Sanders-style is the most effective way to combat the racist populism of Donald Trump. With a progressive economic message, Senator Bernie Sanders started a dialogue with struggling whites that made him incredibly popular within the WWC. This popularity was borne out by the variety of head-to-head polls showing Sanders doing much better than Clinton in a general election with Trump.

The Democrats need to embrace Sanders and his political vision, starting with a change in party leadership.

That is why the Democratic party should make Rep. Keith Ellison the chairman of the DNC. A black Muslim and a true fighter for racial and economic justice, Ellison, a Sanders surrogate during the primaries, is the perfect person to shape the new Democratic vision. It is so vital that Ellison becomes head of the DNC because, in that capacity, he would be able to dictate Democratic policy, purge special interests from the party and allocate funds to important grassroots organizations.

Furthermore, Ellison repudiates the notion that the Democrats cannot appeal to the WWC without compromising their commitment to racial and gender equality. As a Minnesota representative, Keith Ellison, like Bernie Sanders, showed America that politicians are not compelled to use racist appeals when trying to capture the WWC vote.

In short, Ellison’s staunch support for economic and racial equity, along with his sympathy for the WWC, makes him the ideal politician to lead the party’s transition from being a party of elites to a tribune of everyday Americans.

The Democrats cannot afford to choose another establishment stalwart, like Debbie Wasserman Schultz, who sabotaged Sanders’ campaign, or Donna Brazile, to steer the metaphorical ship. The party must shake things up and elect Keith Ellison, a progressive caucus member who can change the core philosophy of the Democratic Party and help them win the WWC vote.

Whatever upsides there are to Howard Dean being the DNC chairman, they are outweighed by his commitment to the current Democratic leadership. Despite his progressive persona during the 04’ primaries, Dean, a big pharma lobbyist, exists as an establishment figure who will only perpetuate the status quo and alienate struggling whites. If party officials elect Dean, it would send a strong signal that Democrats have failed to learn the lessons of this election.

Instead of a party that pays lip-service to “diversity” while, at the same time, providing favorable economic conditions to economic elites on Wall Street and in Silicon Valley, the Democrats should be a group that fights for all of the working class—black, Latino and white.

The Democrats must respond to the allure of Trump’s ethno-nationalism with a progressive, not a centrist, platform. With Keith Ellison spearheading a leftist movement, the Democrats will stem the tide of neo-fascism and bring the WWC into the party with a message of egalitarianism.