Is Tom Perez a fresh start for Democrats?

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Democrats chose former Labor secretary Tom Perez as the Democratic National Committee chair.

Good luck, Perez! You’ve got quite a mess to clean up.

May you breathe new life into the party, and bring it into the 21st century. Republicans need to do the same. Both parties are stuck in outdated ideologies that have no relevance in the modern world.

Ralph Towner

Solidifying and adding to the Republican surge for years to come. Great pick. Thank you.

Dennis Charney

Democrats need to be careful. If they allow themselves to drift too far to the left, they lose any chance of pulling in moderates and disenfranchised Republicans. I think the nation as a whole is looking for a balance of some sort that neither party seems willing to work toward. If we continue to have two major parties occupying diametrically opposed ends of the spectrum, we simply perpetuate the dysfunction that we’re currently experiencing.

David Hoeltje

Perez will lead the charge to bring more undocumented immigrants to the U.S. and speed up their process to become voting citizens (responsible for voting for Democrats). Perez will also have the goal to ensure all working Americans are in labor unions.

Paul Catorce

Between now and the 2020 election, there is a lot of work to be done by Perez to energize the party faithful in support of whoever the Democratic candidate happens to be.

Meanwhile, the current Republican president is supplying a wealth of talking points, from immigration to transgender rights, for party supporters to use for the their next campaign. A lot can happen in the interim but for progressives, the selection of this new leader is a useful start.

Peter Fonseca