“Who are the Clintons, and why are we still talking about them?”

The Democratic Party is about to engage in a battle for its soul. Whoever wins will decide what direction the party takes over the next four to eight years.

There are at least three factions fighting for control. The far left activist base which wants to become the party of Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren. The establishment, which backed Hillary and made sure she was the 2016 nominee. And finally, people like Tim Ryan who are rightly worried about becoming a small party made up of rich coastal elites and the poor.

Cenk Uygur is the host of the progressive talk show The Young Turks. He is clearly a member of the activist wing. He wants Minnesota Rep. Keith Ellison to assume leadership of the DNC.

Howard Dean and other establishment types have suggested that the DNC chair should be a full time job. In the video below, Uygur describes that as a way to keep Ellison out of the role.

Here’s a partial transcript via Real Clear Politics:

Cenk Uygur Explains “Clinton Wing” Of Democratic Party’s “Obvious Transparent Trick” To Keep Control Of DNC “So all of a sudden, the Clinton branch of the Democratic Party says: ‘Oh golly gee, we know what the problem is. The DNC Chair shouldn’t be part-time. That’s what the issue with Debbie Wasserman was.’ No, that’s not what the issue with Debbie Wasserman was,” he explained. “It was that she ran a completely pro-Establishment party that didn’t understand the populist rage in the country. And that’s why they lost to Donald Trump. It had nothing to do with the fact that she was a Congresswoman at the same time. And I know you don’t care about that… because you never brought that up before. And now your rank hypocrisy and irony when you bring that up is obviously for your self interest,” he said. “I just want to ask a question: Who are the Clintons, and why are we still talking about them?” “Your days of controlling the party with obvious, transparent tricks are done,” he said.

Here’s the video. Bear in mind, this guy was rooting for Hillary two weeks ago:

Here’s some related reading from the New York Times:

Democrats’ Leadership Fight Pits West Wing Against Left Wing Struggling to respond to Donald J. Trump’s victory, a group of shellshocked Democrats moved swiftly to endorse Representative Keith Ellison of Minnesota for chairman of the Democratic National Committee, hoping that he would be a fresh face for a party with a depleted bench. But after steadily adding endorsements from leading Democrats in his bid to take over the party, Mr. Ellison is encountering resistance from a formidable corner: the White House. In a sign of the discord gripping the party, President Obama’s loyalists, uneasy with the progressive Mr. Ellison, have begun casting about for an alternative, according to multiple Democratic officials close to the president. The battle pits the titans of the Democratic Party against one another, with Mr. Obama’s camp at odds with figures like Chuck Schumer, the new Senate Democratic leader, and Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts.

Featured image via YouTube.



