After the debacle of the 2016 election, the Democrat Party began a frantic search for a different direction and new leadership. A spirited battle for DNC chair between onetime Secretary of Labor Thomas Perez and Minnesota Congressman Keith Ellison ended withPerez on top and Ellison with the consolation prize of deputy chair.
So while it’s considered proof of an upcoming “blue wave” every time a Republican decides to retire from Congress, there was little talk about the opposite being true when Ellison opted to give up his seat to run in a contested primary for Minnesota attorney general — which he no doubt sees as a stepping stone to the governorship. But what’s most telling is the fact that no key Democrats are groveling at his door to keep him in the leadership. They’re not even pretending to do that.
Some, like Politico’s Edward-Isaac Dovere, spun Ellison’s decision as a #Resistance move. Ellison is “eager to take on a more prominent role in the Democratic opposition to the Trump administration,” Dovere says, and “he sees that opportunity in being attorney general and joining the legal fight, rather than continuing in Congress.” But others point to the baggage Ellison is carrying as a national progressive leader who’s a practicing Muslim — particularly with his ties to hate-spewing Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan.
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