SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
Tom Perez must resign as the chair of the DNC, progressives said Tuesday after Iowa's caucuses descended into chaos. (Photo: Gage Skidmore/Flickr/cc)
#TomPerezResign: DNC Chair Under Fire for Iowa Disaster, Favoritism for Billionaire Oligarch Bloomberg
"The Dem establishment has been screaming that our movement is sowing divisiveness and is going to ruin party unity but they're nailing that to the wall all by themselves."
Feb 03, 2020
Calls for Tom Perez to step down as the head of the Democratic National Committee grew louder Tuesday in the aftermath of the Iowa caucus fiasco in which party mismanagement of the process delayed the results from Monday night's contest and left the 2020 Democratic presidential primary in disarray.
"The Iowa caucus debacle is so insulting to the candidates, their volunteers, the caucus-goers, and the DNC's own process," tweeted HuffPost senior reporter Zach Carter. "Tom Perez has to resign."
Multiple petitions on Change.org called on Perez to relinquish his position as chair of the DNC. One of the most popular ones had over 13,600 signatures at press time. #ResignTomPerez trended on Twitter overnight.
While Perez and the DNC were not technically in charge of the process Monday night, the national party's influence on the process likely led to the caucus meltdown. Top-level party officials' concerns about Russian interference in the 2016 election have created a cottage industry of technology security experts offering protective services for elections.
On Monday an app developed to report results by little-known but party-connected tech company Shadow encountered problems, throwing the entire process into chaos.
As Common Dreams reported, secrecy around the app, its developer, and the process by which it failed have sown distrust in the primary process among the Democratic rank and file. Perez's position at the head of the party has made him the focus of that anger and frustration.
The anger at Perez had been brewing for days.
On Friday, news that the DNC was going to adjust its debate rules to allow billionaire Mike Bloomberg onstage drew outrage and accusations that the party was allowing the former New York City mayor to buy his way into the election--and the beginning of the latest wave of calls for Perez's resignation. Activist Shaun King, a supporter of the Democratic presidential bid of Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), referred to both issues in a tweet on Tuesday.
"I'll be glad to see Tom Perez step down from the DNC," said King. "After a clusterfuck of an election in a state the DNC had a year to prepare for, that was preceded by the DNC changing the rules for a billionaire to buy his way into the race, the man has lost the respect of millions."
Sanders supporter and Democratic Party activist Kat Brezler echoed King's concerns over the direction of the party and emphasized the damage the DNC was doing to the institution.
"The Dem establishment has been screaming that our movement is sowing divisiveness and is going to ruin party unity but they're nailing that to the wall all by themselves," tweeted Brezler. "Changing rules for the DNC threshold for debate access to allow billionaires but not PoC candidates and this!"
Ultimately, Vice senior staff writer Laura Wagner tweeted, the lesson is that the party will stymie Sanders' chances one way or another and the Vermont senator's supporters will need to accept the need to fight on a number of fronts to succeed.
"The DNC is corrupt or incompetent or both and if Bernie Sanders wins the nomination it will be in spite of his party's leadership," said Wagner.
An Urgent Message From Our Co-Founder
Dear Common Dreams reader, It’s been nearly 30 years since I co-founded Common Dreams with my late wife, Lina Newhouser. We had the radical notion that journalism should serve the public good, not corporate profits. It was clear to us from the outset what it would take to build such a project. No paid advertisements. No corporate sponsors. No millionaire publisher telling us what to think or do. Many people said we wouldn't last a year, but we proved those doubters wrong. Together with a tremendous team of journalists and dedicated staff, we built an independent media outlet free from the constraints of profits and corporate control. Our mission has always been simple: To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. Building Common Dreams was not easy. Our survival was never guaranteed. When you take on the most powerful forces—Wall Street greed, fossil fuel industry destruction, Big Tech lobbyists, and uber-rich oligarchs who have spent billions upon billions rigging the economy and democracy in their favor—the only bulwark you have is supporters who believe in your work. But here’s the urgent message from me today. It's never been this bad out there. And it's never been this hard to keep us going. At the very moment Common Dreams is most needed, the threats we face are intensifying. We need your support now more than ever. We don't accept corporate advertising and never will. We don't have a paywall because we don't think people should be blocked from critical news based on their ability to pay. Everything we do is funded by the donations of readers like you. When everyone does the little they can afford, we are strong. But if that support retreats or dries up, so do we. Will you donate now to make sure Common Dreams not only survives but thrives? —Craig Brown, Co-founder |
Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.
Calls for Tom Perez to step down as the head of the Democratic National Committee grew louder Tuesday in the aftermath of the Iowa caucus fiasco in which party mismanagement of the process delayed the results from Monday night's contest and left the 2020 Democratic presidential primary in disarray.
"The Iowa caucus debacle is so insulting to the candidates, their volunteers, the caucus-goers, and the DNC's own process," tweeted HuffPost senior reporter Zach Carter. "Tom Perez has to resign."
Multiple petitions on Change.org called on Perez to relinquish his position as chair of the DNC. One of the most popular ones had over 13,600 signatures at press time. #ResignTomPerez trended on Twitter overnight.
While Perez and the DNC were not technically in charge of the process Monday night, the national party's influence on the process likely led to the caucus meltdown. Top-level party officials' concerns about Russian interference in the 2016 election have created a cottage industry of technology security experts offering protective services for elections.
On Monday an app developed to report results by little-known but party-connected tech company Shadow encountered problems, throwing the entire process into chaos.
As Common Dreams reported, secrecy around the app, its developer, and the process by which it failed have sown distrust in the primary process among the Democratic rank and file. Perez's position at the head of the party has made him the focus of that anger and frustration.
The anger at Perez had been brewing for days.
On Friday, news that the DNC was going to adjust its debate rules to allow billionaire Mike Bloomberg onstage drew outrage and accusations that the party was allowing the former New York City mayor to buy his way into the election--and the beginning of the latest wave of calls for Perez's resignation. Activist Shaun King, a supporter of the Democratic presidential bid of Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), referred to both issues in a tweet on Tuesday.
"I'll be glad to see Tom Perez step down from the DNC," said King. "After a clusterfuck of an election in a state the DNC had a year to prepare for, that was preceded by the DNC changing the rules for a billionaire to buy his way into the race, the man has lost the respect of millions."
Sanders supporter and Democratic Party activist Kat Brezler echoed King's concerns over the direction of the party and emphasized the damage the DNC was doing to the institution.
"The Dem establishment has been screaming that our movement is sowing divisiveness and is going to ruin party unity but they're nailing that to the wall all by themselves," tweeted Brezler. "Changing rules for the DNC threshold for debate access to allow billionaires but not PoC candidates and this!"
Ultimately, Vice senior staff writer Laura Wagner tweeted, the lesson is that the party will stymie Sanders' chances one way or another and the Vermont senator's supporters will need to accept the need to fight on a number of fronts to succeed.
"The DNC is corrupt or incompetent or both and if Bernie Sanders wins the nomination it will be in spite of his party's leadership," said Wagner.
Calls for Tom Perez to step down as the head of the Democratic National Committee grew louder Tuesday in the aftermath of the Iowa caucus fiasco in which party mismanagement of the process delayed the results from Monday night's contest and left the 2020 Democratic presidential primary in disarray.
"The Iowa caucus debacle is so insulting to the candidates, their volunteers, the caucus-goers, and the DNC's own process," tweeted HuffPost senior reporter Zach Carter. "Tom Perez has to resign."
Multiple petitions on Change.org called on Perez to relinquish his position as chair of the DNC. One of the most popular ones had over 13,600 signatures at press time. #ResignTomPerez trended on Twitter overnight.
While Perez and the DNC were not technically in charge of the process Monday night, the national party's influence on the process likely led to the caucus meltdown. Top-level party officials' concerns about Russian interference in the 2016 election have created a cottage industry of technology security experts offering protective services for elections.
On Monday an app developed to report results by little-known but party-connected tech company Shadow encountered problems, throwing the entire process into chaos.
As Common Dreams reported, secrecy around the app, its developer, and the process by which it failed have sown distrust in the primary process among the Democratic rank and file. Perez's position at the head of the party has made him the focus of that anger and frustration.
The anger at Perez had been brewing for days.
On Friday, news that the DNC was going to adjust its debate rules to allow billionaire Mike Bloomberg onstage drew outrage and accusations that the party was allowing the former New York City mayor to buy his way into the election--and the beginning of the latest wave of calls for Perez's resignation. Activist Shaun King, a supporter of the Democratic presidential bid of Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), referred to both issues in a tweet on Tuesday.
"I'll be glad to see Tom Perez step down from the DNC," said King. "After a clusterfuck of an election in a state the DNC had a year to prepare for, that was preceded by the DNC changing the rules for a billionaire to buy his way into the race, the man has lost the respect of millions."
Sanders supporter and Democratic Party activist Kat Brezler echoed King's concerns over the direction of the party and emphasized the damage the DNC was doing to the institution.
"The Dem establishment has been screaming that our movement is sowing divisiveness and is going to ruin party unity but they're nailing that to the wall all by themselves," tweeted Brezler. "Changing rules for the DNC threshold for debate access to allow billionaires but not PoC candidates and this!"
Ultimately, Vice senior staff writer Laura Wagner tweeted, the lesson is that the party will stymie Sanders' chances one way or another and the Vermont senator's supporters will need to accept the need to fight on a number of fronts to succeed.
"The DNC is corrupt or incompetent or both and if Bernie Sanders wins the nomination it will be in spite of his party's leadership," said Wagner.
We've had enough. The 1% own and operate the corporate media. They are doing everything they can to defend the status quo, squash dissent and protect the wealthy and the powerful. The Common Dreams media model is different. We cover the news that matters to the 99%. Our mission? To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. How? Nonprofit. Independent. Reader-supported. Free to read. Free to republish. Free to share. With no advertising. No paywalls. No selling of your data. Thousands of small donations fund our newsroom and allow us to continue publishing. Can you chip in? We can't do it without you. Thank you.