Char Valley Dems stress unity as waters churn within ranks
Leaders focus on 2020 elections
After a week in which several in their ranks called for the chair of the county party to resign, Democratic committee members and elected officials from the Char Valley gathered at the Green Tree library on Saturday to stress unity, fire up their grassroots and turn the attention toward beating President Donald Trump in November.
Though there were numerous veiled references to the infighting and controversy plaguing party leadership, the roomful of a few dozen committee members from Allegheny County’s southern and western suburbs participated in detailed discussions on absentee ballots, canvassing and how to overcome straight party voting.
It was an attempt by leaders to remind their foot soldiers that the party must stay focused on the 2020 election — and use their time to fight for Democrats up and down the ballot — instead of buying into divisiveness.
“You hear about us fighting with each other,” said U.S. Rep. Mike Doyle, D -Forest Hills. “We’re Democrats. We fight with each other. That’s what we do. In the end, we pull together.”
Divisiveness, though, is what three of the meeting’s speakers — Mr. Doyle, U.S. Rep. Conor Lamb and labor leader Darrin Kelly — accused Allegheny County Democratic Committee Chairwoman Eileen Kelly of sowing this week over her handling of the fallout from the committee’s recent controversial endorsements.
All three called on her to step down for her comments at a mid-week news conference in which she defended the endorsement process and blamed other Democrats,
including County Executive Rich Fitzgerald, for dividing the party in a crucial election year.
Mr. Kelly, at Saturday’s meeting, talked primarily of the ties between labor and the Democratic Party, stressing that in addition to taking back the White House, the partnership will have to work to fight local. He said the conservative movement is not only winning from Washington, D.C., but on school boards and local councils.
Echoing what he said in a statement earlier this week calling for the county chairwoman to “step aside,” Mr. Kelly said the party must focus on what unites them.
“I am a committee member and I will always bleed blue,” Mr. Kelly said. “Sure, there’s going to be times when we may disagree with the philosophy on where the party goes. But I assure you that we are united under the basic fundamental principles.”
Mr. Doyle warned of divisiveness, but aimed it mostly at the Democratic presidential primary, insisting that the remaining contenders are arguing about “things on the edges” — like what they said more than 20 years ago — instead of taking on the issues voters care about. But he said that no matter who the nominee is, he’ll support them, and encouraged others to do the same.
In a straw poll, the Char Valley Democrats revealed their presidential preference, with Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren leading the way with 16 votes, former Vice President Joe Biden with 13, former New York City Mayor Mike Bloomberg with 13, Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar with 6, former South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg with 4, Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders with 1 and businessman Tom Steyer with 0.