Calls for Tom Perez to step down as the head of the Democratic National Committee grew louder Tuesday in the aftermath of the Iowa caucus fiasco in which party mismanagement of the process delayed the results from Monday night’s contest and left the 2020 Democratic presidential primary in disarray.
“The Iowa caucus debacle is so insulting to the candidates, their volunteers, the caucus-goers, and the DNC’s own process,” tweeted HuffPost senior reporter Zach Carter. “Tom Perez has to resign.”
Multiple petitions on Change.org called on Perez to relinquish his position as chair of the DNC. One of the most popular ones had over 13,600 signatures at press time. #ResignTomPerez trended on Twitter overnight.
While Perez and the DNC were not technically in charge of the process Monday night, the national party’s influence on the process likely led to the caucus meltdown. Top-level party officials’ concerns about Russian interference in the 2016 election have created a cottage industry of technology security experts offering protective services for elections.
On Monday an app developed to report results by little-known but party-connected tech company Shadow encountered problems, throwing the entire process into chaos.
As Common Dreams reported, secrecy around the app, its developer, and the process by which it failed have sown distrust in the primary process among the Democratic rank and file. Perez’s position at the head of the party has made him the focus of that anger and frustration.
The anger at Perez had been brewing for days.
On Friday, news that the DNC was going to adjust its debate rules to allow billionaire Mike Bloomberg onstage drew outrage and accusations that the party was allowing the former New York City mayor to buy his way into the election — and the beginning of the latest wave of calls for Perez’s resignation. Activist Shaun King, a supporter of the Democratic presidential bid of Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), referred to both issues in a tweet on Tuesday.
“I’ll be glad to see Tom Perez step down from the DNC,” said King. “After a clusterfuck of an election in a state the DNC had a year to prepare for, that was preceded by the DNC changing the rules for a billionaire to buy his way into the race, the man has lost the respect of millions.”
Sanders supporter and Democratic Party activist Kat Brezler echoed King’s concerns over the direction of the party and emphasized the damage the DNC was doing to the institution.
“The Dem establishment has been screaming that our movement is sowing divisiveness and is going to ruin party unity but they’re nailing that to the wall all by themselves,” tweeted Brezler. “Changing rules for the DNC threshold for debate access to allow billionaires but not PoC candidates and this!”
Ultimately, Vice senior staff writer Laura Wagner tweeted, the lesson is that the party will stymie Sanders’ chances one way or another and the Vermont senator’s supporters will need to accept the need to fight on a number of fronts to succeed.
“The DNC is corrupt or incompetent or both and if Bernie Sanders wins the nomination it will be in spite of his party’s leadership,” said Wagner.
Truthout Is Preparing to Meet Trump’s Agenda With Resistance at Every Turn
Dear Truthout Community,
If you feel rage, despondency, confusion and deep fear today, you are not alone. We’re feeling it too. We are heartsick. Facing down Trump’s fascist agenda, we are desperately worried about the most vulnerable people among us, including our loved ones and everyone in the Truthout community, and our minds are racing a million miles a minute to try to map out all that needs to be done.
We must give ourselves space to grieve and feel our fear, feel our rage, and keep in the forefront of our mind the stark truth that millions of real human lives are on the line. And simultaneously, we’ve got to get to work, take stock of our resources, and prepare to throw ourselves full force into the movement.
Journalism is a linchpin of that movement. Even as we are reeling, we’re summoning up all the energy we can to face down what’s coming, because we know that one of the sharpest weapons against fascism is publishing the truth.
There are many terrifying planks to the Trump agenda, and we plan to devote ourselves to reporting thoroughly on each one and, crucially, covering the movements resisting them. We also recognize that Trump is a dire threat to journalism itself, and that we must take this seriously from the outset.
Last week, the four of us sat down to have some hard but necessary conversations about Truthout under a Trump presidency. How would we defend our publication from an avalanche of far right lawsuits that seek to bankrupt us? How would we keep our reporters safe if they need to cover outbreaks of political violence, or if they are targeted by authorities? How will we urgently produce the practical analysis, tools and movement coverage that you need right now — breaking through our normal routines to meet a terrifying moment in ways that best serve you?
It will be a tough, scary four years to produce social justice-driven journalism. We need to deliver news, strategy, liberatory ideas, tools and movement-sparking solutions with a force that we never have had to before. And at the same time, we desperately need to protect our ability to do so.
We know this is such a painful moment and donations may understandably be the last thing on your mind. But we must ask for your support, which is needed in a new and urgent way.
We promise we will kick into an even higher gear to give you truthful news that cuts against the disinformation and vitriol and hate and violence. We promise to publish analyses that will serve the needs of the movements we all rely on to survive the next four years, and even build for the future. We promise to be responsive, to recognize you as members of our community with a vital stake and voice in this work.
Please dig deep if you can, but a donation of any amount will be a truly meaningful and tangible action in this cataclysmic historical moment. We are presently looking for 350 new monthly donors in the next 6 days.
We’re with you. Let’s do all we can to move forward together.
With love, rage, and solidarity,
Maya, Negin, Saima, and Ziggy