DNC deputy chair visits local Dems in Haverford
HAVERFORD » After a historic Democratic wave swept county races in the 2017 election, Democrats were fueled to keep their winning streak alive at the local, and national, level even before the mid-term elections in November.
U.S. Rep. Keith Ellison, D-Minn., was joined by political activists and his party colleagues from all levels of government at the Haverford Community & Environment Recreational Center last Thursday for a pep rally to continue to turn Pennsylvania blue. Ellison, who is also the deputy chairman of the Democratic National Committee, said people need to stop being so focused on elections to encourage a more active party.
“To the folks who are not political, we come around and organize wining,” he said. “And then after that we don’t see them until the next election. This has eroded peoples trust. The election is not the most important part; it’s what happens between the elections.”
Ellison focused a portion on his speech to a packed room on community and building up a strong political base of involved people who want to work for what they need.
“We have to develop a process of co-governance with our electorates where after the election that’s where the work starts,” he said. “After the election we’re going to stay involved. We’ve got to have an active campaign.
“You need to be very active after the election, more active. If we do this, the election becomes a total nobrainer.” Citing the present as a time more divided among the rich and poor since the roaring ‘20s, Ellison touched on the Republican-backed tax bill that was signed into law a couple of weeks ago. He rebuffs the Republicans claims that cutting the corporate tax rate will help spur the economy and that it will cut taxes for middle class families.
“This is a radical redistribution of wealth upward,” he said of the bill, referring to the tax cuts for the most wealthy in the country. He added that it will give the members of the GOP who voted for it bonuses, corporate mergers will increase and political influence will be bought.
“(Lawmakers) know that there is way more us than them, and if democracy is made to really work we control them, they don’t control us,” Ellison said. “When they say ‘lower taxes, smaller government’ what they really mean is starve government of the resources it needs to educate you to make sure you have (public goods).
“That’s really what the game is. What that means for you and I is that we have to have a radical recommitment to democracy.”
As one of the national Democratic leaders, Ellison had to drive home what the Democratic party means to everyone.
“The Democratic Party is a party that makes the connection between hard work and prosperity a very clear one.”