Keith Ellison has announced his candidature for the Chairman of Democratic National Committee (DNC) and already has garnered support of high profiled party members such as Senator Bernie Sanders, Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer and many progressives.

Keith Ellison is an American Muslim and an African American. In the era of hate spread by Donald Trump, Keith Ellison’s election to the top post of Democratic Party can have a significant impact on American Politics. It will also send a strong message about American values to the world, which are being doubted after Donald Trump’s election as the President.

Keith has been first Muslim to be elected to the US Congress and currently among the two serving Muslim members of Congress. He is the US Representative for Minnesota’s 5th Congressional District since 2007.

The State of Democratic Party

Democratic Party is in absolute chaos. There are leaderless and visionless. There is call for change in approach and vision within the party to connect with the voters at grass root level. Hillary was seen as a Wall-street loyalist and never had the required connect with rural voters.  This is where, Keith Ellison can make a huge difference. He is unlike other stereotype democratic members, who are part of the establishment. He is an outsider, who rose to the political ranks through connecting with the people. He has gained tremendous respect both within the party and outside as a “builder” and “connecter” rather a divisive and fame hungry politician.

When asked about whether black-practising-Muslim is the right person to lead the Democratic Party, Ellison said “Here’s a thing about people….my district is 75% white and I can tell you that I get elected 70% of the vote. Why is that? Cause if you look someone in the eye and you show that you respect them, then they get that”.

For the Democratic Party to elect a Muslim as the Chairman is indeed going to be a difficult decision. There is already a smear campaign going on against Keith Ellison.

With the anti-Muslim rhetoric produced by Donald Trump, election of Keith Ellison can further polarise the voters between “us” versus “them”. Some democrats have also questioned the necessary experience of Keith to lead the party at this juncture. The reality in US is that, voters are fed up with traditional politicians and that’s why they voted for Donald Trump, whom they saw as against the establishment.

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