Popcorn: Howard Dean Says He Fears Democrats Could Plunge Into Civil War Over DNC Contest

Former Democratic National Committee chair and Vermont governor Howard Dean is worried that the contest to pick the next chairman of the DNC could devolve into civil war between the Clinton and Sanders factions of the party. Dean has already tossed his hat into the ring, but so has staunch progressive Democratic Rep. Keith Ellison (D-MN). Jason added that former Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley could run as well, as the party looks inwards on how to rebuild the party that has been decimated under the Obama presidency.

How and why Democrats took so long to notice the gutting of their party remains a mystery (actually, I really don’t care), but there are good odds that the far Left and establishment wings of the party could come to blows, especially since Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) said during a speech at George Washington University in D.C. tonight that he probably would’ve beaten Trump in the election if he had been able to clinch the Democratic nomination. That’s certainly a possibility. Sanders did well with the white working class voters, along with energizing the parts of the Obama coalition that just couldn’t get excited for Hillary. But back to the DNC race, with Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) backing Ellison—Democratic blood sports could break out (via The Hill):

I do not want this to turn into a war between the Sanders people and the Hillary people, which it could,” Dean said in a Wednesday interview with BuzzFeed News.

Also running for the DNC chair is Rep. Keith Ellison (Minn.), one of the few lawmakers who backed Sanders over Clinton in the Democratic White House primary. Last week, the Vermont senator returned the favor, endorsing Ellison for the top party spot.

Liberal leader Sen. Elizabeth Warren (Mass.), the last female Democrat in the Senate to endorse Clinton, has also thrown her support behind Ellison.

Dean, a former presidential candidate and Vermont governor, said in the interview with Buzzfeed that he thinks he can win "because I'm a known quantity."

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It is true that Dean was a good chairman for the Democratic Party, where he focused the party’s efforts to win elections across the ballot in every state. At the same time, the country’s electorate has changed a lot in 11 years, especially within the Democratic Party.