More DNC woes for Ken Martin

How could the Democrats be in any more disarray? Long-time, high-ranking Democratic National Committee members Randi Weingarten and Lee Saunders turned down offers to remain in their positions, citing dissatisfaction with the current DNC chair, Ken Martin.

Their announcement to leave the DNC came a week after former vice chair David Hogg was booted from the committee. Hogg was pushed out over a complaint from Native American Kalyn Free, 61, that the election results “violated the DNC Charter and discriminated against three women-of-color candidates,” per Semafor.

This procedural problem followed Martin’s vocal disapproval of Hogg’s $20 million plan to primary older incumbents in safe seats running for reelection.

In support of the ousted 25-year-old’s plan, Weingarten said, “Yes, it will ruffle some feathers, and yes, some people will be upset. The key is that they are trying to create the connection between the long-term values of the party and people who don’t see it. And you have to do things differently to make that connection.”

In a letter to Martin, the union leader wrote, “While I am proud to be a Democrat, I appear to be out of step with the leadership you are forging, and I do not want to be the one who keeps questioning why we are not enlarging our tent and actively trying to engage more and more of our communities.”

Saunders matched Weingarten’s tone in his own justification for leaving his role, saying new times “demand new strategies,” per the New York Times. “This is not a time to close ranks or turn inward,” he said. “The values we stand for, and the issues we fight for, benefit all working people. It is our responsibility to open the gates, welcome others in and build the future we all deserve together.”

Both union leaders remained vague on who is not being accommodated in the current Democratic tent. However, during Martin’s campaign for DNC chair, Weingarten and Saunders supported Martin’s opponent, Ben Wilker. Upon Martin’s election, the new DNC president removed both union leaders from the Rules and Bylaws Committee, which sets the rules for forthcoming presidential nominating processes, delegate selections and other party’s operations.

Meanwhile, Democratic party approval rating has dropped to 27 percent and DNC floundering continues.

While Hogg sat as vice chair, Martin told a group of high-ranking DNC staffers, “I’ll be very honest with you, for the first time in my 100 days on this job… the other night I said to myself for the first time, I don’t know if I wanna do this anymore,” per Politico.

“I took this job to fight Republicans, not Democrats,” he continued. “As I said when I was elected, our fight is not within the Democratic party, our fight is and has to be solely focused on Donald Trump and the disastrous Republican agenda. That’s the work that I will continue to do every day.”

Weingarten is not without her critics either. Corey DeAngelis, an education researcher at the American Culture Project, told the New York Post that if Weingarten “fought half as hard to improve public education, maybe then more than a quarter of American kids would be proficient in math.” He added his frustration that “teachers unions’ are more invested in political activism than in prioritizing education.”

All the while, young men are leaving the party in droves, and Latino and black communities voted for President Trump at unprecedented rates.