Bernie Sanders’s ex-campaign manager wants to rebuild Democratic party: ‘What new ideas are we bringing?
Bernie Sanders’s ex-campaign manager wants to rebuild Democratic party: ‘What new ideas are we bringing?
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Faiz Shakir launched a last-minute bid for DNC chair and wants to mold it in to a working class, inclusive organization. Fed up with the status quo, former Bernie Sanders campaign manager Faiz Shakir launched an 11th-hour bid to become the next chair of the Democratic national committee and is pitching a message focused on the working class to help the party rebuild itself.
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“I got into this race late in the game because I felt that a lot of candidates [for DNC chair] are now talking about the Democratic party wanting to be a working-class party, and I’ve been excited for this for the better part of a decade,” Shakir told the Guardian.
With his experience running Sanders’ 2020 presidential campaign and serving as the national political director of the American Civil Liberties Union, Shakir believes he is best suited to lead Democrats as they process their dismal performance in the November elections and brace for another four years of Donald Trump in the White House.
“The question to my mind now is that if there is consensus around the working class confronting oligarchy, then what new ideas are we bringing to the table in how we utilize the power and authority of the DNC?” Shakir said. “My election would send the strongest message that we’re doing something different.”.
Shakir faces an uphill battle to capture the chair position. He only announced his candidacy earlier this month, while the frontrunners in the race – Ken Martin, chair of the Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor party, and Ben Wikler, chair of the Wisconsin Democratic party – have been campaigning for two months. Ahead of the leadership elections on Saturday, Martin claims to have already secured the support of at least 200 DNC members, which would put him within striking distance of a winning majority, although his opponents have questioned that whip count.
