Ellison as DNC chair will cement Democrats’ position in the minority

Minnesota Congressman Keith Ellison is on a glide path to becoming the next chair of the Democratic National Committee. Republicans are delighted by the prospect, because Ellison promises to push an already badly defeated and marginalized party even further to the left.

Identity politics failed spectacularly this cycle, relegating Democrats to isolated coastal and urban enclaves. Yet identity politics are what Ellison, a Minneapolis Democrat, is best known for. Go figure.

{mosads}Ellison will emphasize the urban core voting blocks that supported Hillary Clinton, although that wasn’t enough to win, not by a long shot. Ellison and his fellow Democrats in Minnesota have followed this tactic for years, and it served them well. Republicans have not won a statewide race there in a decade.

But it was that very emphasis that for years worked to exclude voters outside core progressive enclaves, and led President-elect Trump to come within a percentage point of winning Ellison’s state. It was the best performance by any Republican since President Reagan in 1984.

Ellison would be a strong fundraiser, something evidenced during his tenure in Congress. While that quality is necessary, it is not sufficient. Hillary Clinton lost the election despite a huge cash advantage.

Something happened this cycle, and money alone won’t fix it.

Ellison seems the last person able to understand why millions of Americans who voted not once, but twice for Obama switched parties to support Trump in November. Ellison may not have heard it, but they sent a loud, clear message.

The message voters sent is that they resent gratuitous accusations of racism simply because they opposed President Obama’s policies, recognized Obamacare for the disaster it was, and were tired of the lack of real wage or job growth in their lives.

The question is: Can Democrats party respond to that message in an effective way that stops the bleeding?

At some point they must grapple with the issues confronting the American people and adjust accordingly. In moving towards selecting Ellison as their chair, Democrats are demonstrating that is something they are not ready to do.

Democrats have lost a shocking number of governorships and state legislatures in the eight years Obama has been president. This is a huge problem for them going forward, but Ellison’s near lock on the chairmanship suggests they don’t see it.

Many Republicans across the country won hard-fought races, despite being substantially outspent, because they focused on things that mattered to the voters. Political correctness was not one of them, though that is identity politics at their core.

Ellison as chairman will show that Democrats are still figuring out the mess they’re in. In the meantime, Republicans couldn’t be happier.

John Gilmore is a Republican attorney and author of “Bachmannistan: Behind The Lines.”

The views expressed by contributors are their own and are not the views of The Hill.