Tensions are rising inside the Democratic Party between forces intent on recapturing blue collar voters and those who want to stay the course and focus on ethnic blocs.

The clash comes as the party searches for a new leader amid President Obama's imminent exit from the White House and in the aftermath of President-elect Trump's crushing defeat of Hillary Clinton. Democratic National Committee members will vote for a new chairman in February or March.

One faction of insiders and strategists argue that the party has taken the white working class for granted, and needs to prioritize outreach to what had been a traditional Democratic constituency that has drifted right as leaders and activists increasingly catered to the non-white voters who have become the bedrock of the liberal base.

A competing wing is dismissing calls to shift away from identity politics. This group contends that the Democrats' strong relationship with ascendant demographics, such as the LGBTQ community, Hispanics, Asians and other non-whites, is not the problem, and gives the party a long-term advantage over the Republicans.

The battle for which direction the party will take is expected to play out in a series of DNC chairman candidate forums, including events scheduled for Jan. 13-14 in Phoenix; Jan. 27-28 in Houston; Feb. 3-4 in Detroit; and Feb. 10-11 in Baltimore.

Rodell Mollineau, a Democratic political operative and veteran of campaigns who has lived and worked in Arkansas, Iowa and Ohio — three heavily white states that Trump won handily — is in the camp of staying the course and believes the party should avoid overreacting to the results of the election.

Mollineau said that the notion that Democrats have to pay more attention to whites in the heartland and reduce their focus on ethnic groups in urban America, "is being hyped by the media and bought into by Democrats."

"This is a false choice — a trap of sorts," he said.

Trump beat Clinton last month on the strength of a surge among white voters in the country's heartland.

It wasn't enough to win the national popular vote, but it did deliver Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin to the Republican, upending the Democratic nominee in three states with strong blue-collar blocs that had formed the foundation of the party's "blue wall" for three decades.

Democrats have spent the weeks since pondering how to proceed. The approximately 450 members of the DNC will have first crack at trying to bring consensus to that decision with the election of a new chairman. Rep. Keith Ellison, D-Minn., is among the leading contenders, but a party insider said the field of candidates could look completely different come January.

"In 2005, the early frontrunner was former Congressman Martin Frost and New Democratic Network founder Simon Rosenberg," said this insider, a DNC veteran who requested anonymity in order to speak candidly, explaining that the winner that year, Howard Dean, "came on strong late in the race."

Among the factions battling for control of the direction of the party, the group pushing for a recalibration of its message includes a collection of pragmatists and progressive activists. They believe the party should offer a vision that focuses on addressing Americans' concerns about the economy and appeal to a broad range of rank and file voters.

"We see the election as a moment of reckoning for the Democratic Party," said Kaitlin Sweeney, a spokesman for the liberal activist group, Progressive Change Campaign Committee.

Sweeney worked for Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., insurgent primary campaign against Clinton, although she was active on behalf of the Democratic nominee in the general election.

"Democrats underperformed because they didn't speak to voters' economic anxiety in a real, authentic way," Sweeney said. "They didn't offer a systemic critique of the rigged economy and broken system and show that they are willing to fight it. And absent of authentic leadership on economic issues, voters listened to the loudest voice in the room — Trump."

Other Democrats are wary of changing course based on one surprise election in which its nominee was unusually flawed.

This corner of the party, also a collection of veteran strategists and liberal activists, aren't interested in catering to the grievance and resentment they see as prevalent among many, though not all, among of Trump's predominantly white base.

These Democrats are proud of their party's inclusivity, and want to continue celebrating the blocs that comprise their base: African Americans, Hispanics, Asians, LGBT voters, and others, by speaking directly to their unique concerns and policy priorities.

They also believe it still makes for good politics. "We all want same things," Mollineau said. "But all groups come at it from different perspectives, and I think you need to be cognizant of that when you're doing your messaging."

Some Democrats are pushing the party to do both — celebrate diversity while making sure not to ignore blue collar whites. Democrats often make the mistake of viewing the ethnic groups through the prism of pet issues, said Ed Espinoza, a political operative in Austin, Texas, who previously worked for the Democratic National Committee.

So, for example, many Democrats talk to Hispanics primarily about immigration, and forget that as important as this issue is in their community, jobs and education are usually more important to them as voters. Not engaging at this basic level risks lower enthusiasm to turn out.

At the same time, Espinoza said, in Democrats' push to maximize support among rising ethnic blocs, some have made the mistake of ignoring white middle and lower class voters in the Rust Belt.

That redounded to Trump's benefit, because in states like Michigan and Wisconsin — the former where Clinton hardly showed up and the latter where she never showed up — the president-elect was the only one who paid attention and pledged to relieve their economic angst.

"Those voters that crossed over to Trump felt like nobody was listening to them," Espinoza said. "You're listening to this group over here and that group over here, and no one is listening to me."