Launching the Democratic Party’s effort to wash away the nightmare of the 2016 presidential election, the new DNC chair and the runner-up in the party leadership election in February will kick off the “Democratic Turnaround Tour” in Michigan on Friday with the first stop in Warren.
Democratic National Committee Chair Tom Perez and the deputy chair, Congressman Keith Ellison of Minnesota, will hold rallies in Warren, Flint and Detroit as they launch a nationwide unity tour to patch up the differences from 2016 between supporters of Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders.
The selection of Warren, Macomb County’s largest city, is not a surprise as Macomb, the blue-collar home of the Reagan Democrats, has been singled out for providing the winning Michigan margin – a gain of nearly 50,000 votes from the 2012 election – for the GOP nominee, President Donald Trump.
The decision to start the tour in Michigan is also no surprise as Clinton’s razor-thin loss by about 10,000 votes in this battleground Midwestern state – the first in Michigan for the Dems since 1988 – was perhaps the most stinging rebuke the party experienced in November.
Perez, who served as labor secretary in Barack Obama’s cabinet – the Clinton candidate in the DNC leadership standoff — and Ellison, the Detroit native who emerged as a darling of the Sanders supporters, will appear together for a 10:30 a.m. breakfast meeting at the UAW Region 1 headquarters in Warren. They will be accompanied by veteran Congressman Sandy Levin, a constant GOP target from nearby Royal Oak, plus UAW members and officials, and progressive activists from the area.
The second stop on Friday will consist of a 2 p.m. roundtable discussion with community leaders and local Democratic officials in Flint. The third event scheduled is a 6:15 p.m. gathering at the Church of the New Covenant in Detroit, where Ellison’s brother, Brian, serves as pastor.
“At each stop, Tom and Keith will join MDP Chair Brandon Dillon to share their vision for turning around the Democratic Party from the ground up,” a party press release said.
According to Politico, the Perez-Ellison buddy/buddy show, with an emphasis on grassroots organizing, will focus on states where the Democrats unexpectedly lost in 2016, plus states such as Texas where the party sees the opportunity to make inroads.
New Jersey and Virginia, where gubernatorial races will be held in 2017, are also a destination. The tour will serve as the rollout of a new Dem approach that emphasizes a progressive economic message designed to appeal to the white working class voters that provided Trump with an ability to capture the support of traditional Democrats in November.
Photo: Headshot compilation. Perez, left, Ellison, right.
