Democratic Civil War Spreads Across The Nation

The ongoing Democratic civil war, predicted back in May by America Rising’s Matt Rhoades, is heating up. According to the Wall Street Journal, the race for DNC Chairman has “rekindled” the heated primary battle between Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders:

“In meeting rooms, hallways and at the bars of the Sheraton Grand hotel here, Democrats fretted the Clinton-Sanders fight has been rekindled in the race for DNC chairman, which pits Sanders surrogate Keith Ellison, a Minnesota congressman, against Labor Secretary Tom Perez, who was on Mrs. Clinton’s running- mate short list. They two men are widely seen as the leading candidates while five other candidates are running.”

The proxy battle in the DNC race, comes as many Sanders supporters continue to mistrust the DNC. Sanders himself has so far refused to give the DNC access to his massive fundraising list. The turmoil and lack of credibility has led some to question whether the DNC is even a viable entity in 2017:

“The still-lingering tensions of the 2016 primary have dominated the contest so far to head the Democratic National Committee. But they have also masked the deeper problem: After a year of debate scheduling drama, hacked emails, questions about impartiality and former Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz’s convention-even resignation, many Democrats aren’t convinced the DNC is even capable of playing a central role in the party’s Donald Trump-era resistance.”

The Clinton-Sanders rift has not been contained at just the DNC level. It’s also playing out in Democratic contests across the country:

“Some Sanders allies are eager to see a version of the debate burst into the open on a national scale after a handful of his acolytes scored victories in recent races for state party chairmanships. In Virginia, many Democrats expect former Rep. Tom Perriello — hardly a Sanders-style liberal — to shift to his left to embrace Sanders backers in his gubernatorial primary against Lt. Gov. Ralph Northam, who hails from the party’s moderate wing. In New Jersey, advisors of former ambassador, DNC finance chair, and Goldman Sachs banker Phil Murphy are eager to portray him as the progressive outsider in his New Jersey gubernatorial primary race against two state lawmakers — one of whom has a Sanders alum running his campaign.”

At the same time, Sanders supporters are targeting state Democratic Party chairman they view as to tied to Clinton. While many DC Democrats want to portray a unified party front, Bernie Sanders and his radical forces are ensuring that in the states, that message looks ridiculous.