Rep. Keith Ellison, D-Minn., does not sound excited about the idea of Hillary Clinton campaigning for the Democratic Party in the 2018 midterm elections.
Not excited at all.
MSNBC’s Steve Kornacki this weekend pressed the congressman on the former secretary of state, asking, “Do you want her out there campaigning for Democrats?”
The cable news host’s question came in reference to Clinton alleging recently that only “backwards” states voted for President Trump and that white female voters were pressured by men into voting for the GOP nominee.
Ellison’s response to Kornacki was many things, but enthusiastic was not one of those things.
“I don’t think one comment one person makes is the issue. I think people want to know, ‘What are you doing for us?'” the congressman said. “When I was in Detroit and in Trenton yesterday, people kept bringing up pensions. … If somebody comes to them and says, ‘Hey, this one pol said this one thing this time,’ people are going to be like, ‘Whatever, man. I want to know, is the Democrat Party going to fight for me?'”
Kornacki also asked Ellison whether he thinks it’ll be more difficult now to campaign in the areas Clinton disparaged recently.
“We’re going to be focused on working-class, kitchen-table issues,” the congressman dodged.
Ellison continued, adding his party’s candidates would do a lot more than just “talking bad about anybody.”
If this is what it looks like, and he would prefer to see Clinton back away quietly from the midterms, Ellison, who also serves as the Democratic National Committee deputy chair, would not be unique in this regard. He would merely be the latest in a growing line of Democrats who seem eager to see Clinton shove off.
Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo., for example, is none too pleased to have Clinton on the loose ahead of the midterms. Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, also said of the former secretary of state’s comments, “I don’t really care what she said. I just think that that’s not helpful.”
This is to say nothing of earlier efforts by the former interim chair of the DNC, Donna Brazille, to place the blame for the 2016 fiasco entirely on Clinton and her team. I wrote at the time, “The Clinton wing is on the wane, and party bosses seem eager to rid themselves finally of the deeply unpopular former secretary of state.” This still rings true, especially as men like Ellison and DNC Chair Tom Perez continue to back away slowly from the Clinton brand.
The funny thing is: Even with former and current DNC brass sending Clinton heavy hints, I don’t think she plans to go away soon. She is still smarting from 2016, she believes the DNC is partly to blame for her failure and she seems to find catharsis in the public airing of grievances.
They may need to warm up to the idea of having her hang around for awhile.
