where do you see that case going thato what extent will ongoing case affect the supreme court fight? senator murphy: i think the administration has a decision to make as to which route they will go down, the supreme court or not. but i think their chances of prevailing are low and they likely understand that. the way in which donald trump has reacted, locate things for the judge. thank all of my colleagues on the dnc and special guests in the audience. dnc members will begin with a have a dialogue with the candidates and special guests have, as you know, these forms have been passed out, and we have been bringing these

westions up to april so that will have those. check your seats, many people want to get into the auditorium and we want them to come in as well. we are ready to get started. it is my honor to bring back to the state, a veteran journalist, white house correspondent for the american urban radio network, and author of a brand-new book, "at momma's knee." april ryan, this is a great book. and i promise you she will autograph it. april ryan my thank you for doing a tremendous -- ryan, thank you for doing a tremendous job today. april: thank you, donna. she says she is going fishing after this. i see how the democrats do this now. it is an all-day session.

having gotten a lot of information so far? it is very interesting. some people came up earlier asking for the public, if they could ask questions. that is why they are handing out -- those in the aisle handing out the question forms, raise your hand. that is where your questions will be addressed. you get those forms and we will get them and hopefully answer your question. those in the dnc will be in the ask questions and write them out. at this time, this is the moment you have been waiting for. we have a change coming. this is the chair candidate forum for the dnc, no opening statements, the candidates have a maximum of two minutes to answer questions, which will be times by a clock -- timed by it. and when the red light goes, i

will cut you off. all candidates have the opportunity to have a one minute closing statement. sally brown. jamie harrison. tom prerez. jehmu greene. peteror tarski -- patarsky. give them a round of applause. [applause] this is a raucous bunch in here. welcome to the main act. we thank you for coming. i will start off with a question

from patricia. are youo not win, committed to working with the winner to further the causes of the democratic party? to harness all the great ideas brought forth today? i will start with you, sally. ms. brown: absolutely. --view print on my website blueprint on my website highlights how i would put the work any democrat in the country, any person that steps up to lead, we want to help them lead. that is part of the new power system i advocate for, so i would ask everything the one of my colleagues to look at those workgroups and pick the ones they think they can be passionate about and get to work right away. we have an amazing talent in our country and it is only when we bring a diverse group of thinkers together to solve the problems and to do the work ahead of us, that i really

believe we can move forward. we have a lot of work to do. and it is so important that anybody who wants to take part in it and put their brain behind it and their muscle behind it, had the chance to get to work. i made a commitment to myself on wednesday morning when i woke up after the election, to take the ideas of anybody under the age of 35, we do have folks on the state under 35 luckily, and put those ideas into action and help them with support and services and resources they need to do that. and i was grateful that we have students who came hours after i made that oath, so i could put into practice those words and put them into action. those two high school students organize the women's march in our state and men we have thousands -- and then we have

thousands show up in the snow to march. it was amazing how i could sit down with two young women, who somebody might hit delete to on the keyboard and not respond to them. in just 30 minutes of my time, i was able to help them get the resources they needed, the media lists, to do something in the -- to do something amazing like that. mr. harrison: thank you for being here. i amort answer, yes, committed to this. i remember when i first decided to run for care for the south carolina democratic party. one democrat said, why would you want to do that? it is a thankless job. i said, i am who i am because of this party. it was because of all of the people in this party that decided to give a boy from south

carolina a chance, in opportunity to be more than he thought he could be. so the commitment to this party is one that does not wane because you do not get a position. it is one that is for a lifetime, it is one that is intertwined into who i am as a person. the day after the election, when we all woke up and realized that very soon we were going to have a -- as a president. for me, i was sad, not only because hillary clinton lost, i was sad because of the world that my two-year-old would have to grow up and. -- in. this is more than just a position, it is more than just a job, this is about our country. this is about the fight to make sure that there is opportunity for all, despite how you grew up, despite how you look, despite who you love, despite

who you praise as your lord and savior. this is about making sure that this is the land of freedom and so, and my committed to the democratic party? right i am and will fight to make sure that we are that loyal resistance, that opposition, to make sure we get change in this country. april: thank you. secretary perez: good afternoon. it is great to be here. it is great to be here. thank you. it is great to be here in charm city where i had the privilege of working here for part of the decade. baltimore is a resilient town fair and the answer is, of course. we are all in this together. we are only a few weeks removed, it seems like decades removed

from barack obama. i miss barack obama a lot, my friends. what we have seen in these short weeks is nothing less than carnage and chaos, every single day. the raids on immigrants things that can my heart apart. -- tear my heart apart. and the court of appeals saying, you need to read the constitution before you start doing things. we see it every day, the assault on democracy. and we are in this together. this is a remarkably committee group of folks. people are looking for whose hands are bigger, you are not going to find out here today. you will find a discussion about how we build a democratic party that works for everyone. that is what we are talking about. and we need to focus our energies on the basics, organizing, organizing, organizing.

we need to make sure we build strong parties and all of the 50 states and seven territories and the district of columbia. we need to fight for dc statehood and making sure that everybody has acf the table in this process, and we do so by making sure that we are out there listening to people and making house calls, like i did in northern wisconsin this week, and when we do that we learn that when we organize, when we engage in partner with our friends in a movement, the labor movement my planned parenthood and others, we are stronger when we are partners. and when we change the culture of the dnc to make sure we are not electing just a president, but people from the school board to the senate, that is how -- april: thank you. [cheers] yes. i think that answer will be the same for everyone at the table.

i do not have the luxury to set out at this unique moment in the democratic party and nobody in this room has the letter to set out at this moment we are facing as a party. ms. greene: this moment is our time to look at her strengths and our weaknesses as a democratic family, and to assess how we innovate, how we organize, how we experiment, and how we engage in new and exciting ways. i think this moment is bigger than just what has happened in the 2016 election. there is a lot of conversation about transformation. transformation does not come easy. transformation is not going to happen if every single person on this table does not remain engaged in this process. transformation is not going to

happen if everybody in this room does not remain engaged in this process. transformation requires willingness, it requires radical candor, and it requires strong change management. andmy position in this race what would continue, no matter what the outcome is, is that we have this opportunity, this unique moment to transform our party. to make sure that we also ask ourselves very tough questions, how do we strengthen our home to the a welcoming place for the resistance? how do we reimagine and restructure, how do we rebuild, how do we rebrand, how do we reengage? that is a conversation that cannot end today and a conversation we all must participate in, no matter what side you are on. that is a conversation we must

have as a family. april: thank you. willing to work with these great men and women should they become the next chair? the answer is yes, i plan on continuing to serve my country and defending the constitution of the united states. thank you. april: ok. do i get the remainder of his time? april: no. thank you, sir. mr. buckley: thank you. i do not think there is a person watching this or reading this went out for the next moment -- doubt for a moment that i would not be standing by the next chair. i started volunteering when i was eight years old and i've never missed an election, because i believe in the democratic party, we are the party for the working people and if we are not united -- i do not

think the question is where i will be, what i have said is immediately upon my election i will ask everyone of these people to meet me backstage and we will sit together and we will divide the work. because that is the problem we have had in this party, it is the chair and a few staff, it has not been this group. i know, i have been a vice chair and i do not know what the hell is going on in this party any more than you. let me tell you, when i am elected chair, every officer of the party will be involved, every member of the executive committee will be involved, every single member of the dnc is finally going to be involved, and every state community member, and every local community member, and every activist and volunteer and elected official, because if we do not do it together, we will keep repeating the same dam thing over and over and that is called losing.

when i grew up in new hampshire, it was a republican state. the last 10 years we have won 11 of the last 13 elections. and looking at the turnout results, and across the country, where it really sucked in a lot of states, new hampshire had an increase in turnout. 2016, same thing. elections, you like the guy that can win elections. i love all of these people, nobody can match my record. april: thank you. >> good evening. yes, i am from washington dc and i am proud of it. i am for statehood and we needed. and it would help the democratic party. and something all of you should outsider, i amn your man. dc, but im: i am from

am the outsider on this panel. so yes, i will work with whoever is elected, and hopefully we will walk out of here together get, to grow the party. thank you. april: thank you. robert? >> my name is pete. [cheers] april: that is your campaign slogan. my name is pete. you can callgieg: me whatever you like. thank you for moderating. and thank you for the opportunity to be here. short answer, yes. longer answer is, we have got to

emerge from this process is a unified democratic party, because we know what we are up against and it is not each other. [applause] is, had we won the white house in 2016, our party would be in trouble. look at where we are in the state houses, the constitutional offices and our party has a lot of work to do and there is no way to do it if we are not unified, if we do not have the humility to recognize that everybody brings something different to the table and every single one of us has something to offer. every one of the members in the dnc and millions of members of the democratic party. we have got to engage. [applause] think theigieg: i chair would be me, of course, and i will tell you why. among the good democrats, we are looking at largely similar

things, the question is who is best positioned to deliver what each of us is saying. my argument is if we want to reach a new generation, why not put in a new generation of leaders? [applause] recognizegoing to grassroots, put in the candidate that has led the way from the houston airport protests, whose volunteers have been out walking in delaware in a special election that will decide the balance in the senate. mayor buttigieg: why not go with somebody who is not the product somebodyction, but that can deliver the fresh start that our party needs. at in a local organizer, local mayor that has been running and winning elections in one of the reddest states in america. april: thank you.

>> yes, i plan on continuing to support the goals of the democratic party regardless of who wins the election for care. karsky: i am doing my best to make sure that person is me. i think that we need to get together and organize locally,' there are a lot of changes that need to be made, both in the organization and the way that the dnc functions. whether it is more openness, whether it is being impartial or evenhanded as our charter requires. to conduct a nomination process for president in 2020. whether it is informing the members of the dnc of the past loss statement and the future budget of the dnc, which i think should happen. and i expect members will keep those documents secure. whether it is protecting the data we have at the dnc, the

large donors, all of our donors, are not subjected to identity theft because the dnc did not properly handle data. we have to listen what is going on in the states. they know what is best going on in this country. next weekend i plan to be in wyoming, speaking to the wyoming state party, and discussion with them, what their goals are for the coming year. i have a tough road. -- they have a tough road. hopefully the dnc will be able to help them meet those goals. i want to continue my work in election protection. i have done that over the years starting from the registration process to the part where we count editorial votes. -- electoral votes. that is the only legitimate means in which power is transferred in this country.

thank you for your attention and i thank you for your votes. april: thank you. keith ellison. [cheering] keith: fellow democrats, i am here to serve whether i am the chair limit. so the answer is clearly yes. -- whether i am the chair or not. you need me to talk to parties around the country, i will do it. i went to new jersey. how are you doing mr. chairman? i went to georgia. i will do whatever you need me to do if i am the chair. i hope to raise $1 million for my state party. if you need me, i will help do that. i have given millions to candidates across the country. withu need me to get down the grassroots, i will be happy to do that.

earlier today some young people brought up 750,000 signatures on a petition supporting me for dnc chair. -- i ameed me to get proud to the -- i have led an organized literally hundreds of cryolife -- of rallies. we have a rally this morning. we will help with these elections that we need to win. whatever it is you need me to do, i will do it because it is everybody's job to make the deep in people know their hearts that the democratic party is there to fight for them every single day. the democratic party is here to make sure they have prosperity for their families. that is why the head of the nfl cio sports me, steelworkers support me, communication workers support me, teachers supporting -- if you guys win an

d i don't, i have a lot of service to offer just like other dnc members in this room. thank you very much. [cheering] april: if anyone has a question, we have a microphone. i want to pose this question to candidates. there is a climate of disease among democrats -- like the aca. what will that look like? the supreme court, immigration reform, and this travel ban iss ue. rosary wants to ask, i want to learn your specific ideas on how you will engage with all thatens turned activists are moving in across this country with this new -- how

would you do that? our youngestpete, mayor. . pete: the party has to have the courage of our convictions. we also have to have the humility to recognize that the job before us is to figure out where the party fits in the broader movement rather than the other way around. give loan all come from within the party, and that is all right. -- it won't come home from within the party, and that is all right. we have to stand shoulder to shoulder with activists at the local level. that is what we have done in south bend, where we had a couple weeks ago an event with refugees, including from iraq. one was in the u.s. because his life was in danger because he helped u.s. troops. someoneo tell you, as who lied on local nationals in

us, iistan who were among don't know if i could look those people in the eye right now given the way that our country's president is treating refugees and newcomers. [applause] we have got to tap into the moral outrage that is happening across the country. whether it is tearing a mother from her family's arms overnight. we have to do that, yet do it in a certain tone that makes more people want to do it. we oppose them by supporting each other. thingas the beautiful from the women's march. this is a season for happy warriors. [laughter] we have to be fierce about it, too. the hypocrisy, you can smell it. i will be damaged if we are

going to have a draft dodging chicken hawk president of the united states who thinks he is too smart to read his own intelligence briefings boarding people that i served with -- ordering people that i served with because he can't be bothered to do his job. [cheering] april: i suppose that same question to keith ellison. : people are feeling the pain and anxiety of this trump presidency. how can the democratic party engaged to make sure that we convert all of this excellent energy to electoral gains? we got into this mess because we did not win an election. we did not win 1000 elections. if i am the chair, we will start again. if you want to do it, if you want a friend, you have to be one.

you have to be in solidarity with the people's movement. when freddie gray was killed in baltimore, people were hurting in the streets. i came to listen to them and talk about how it is that we can bring real dignity to people who have nothing getting from the people that are supposed to serve them. is tor way we can do it understand they used to be 30,000 steelworkers in baltimore, now there are like 3. we need to support the labor movement. we have to say the word -- unions. that is what we have to do. we have to be there for women who just saw the most misogynistic person ever to become president. we have to stand in solidarity with our sisters and fight back. and young people worried about dapa and daca being repealed, i have folks in my community that are worried about the escalation of these i.c.e. raids.

we have to be on the line carrying those signs. the reason i got the support of grassroots folks is because on the picket line, i am on that line. when there is a strike vote, i am in that meeting. i will be standing up to convert our first amendment rights into electoral gains at the ballot boxes. thank you. [cheering] >> i don't know if you in the back can see this little girl that has been running to and fr o. she is amazing, such an incredible reminder that this energy that has sprung up in this country, while it may be because we have powerful fear that we need to attack and push a reminder that we are a democracy and have the ability to do that. we don't need to push it down

and construct it into anything. we need to let it continue to be organic and flow freely without putting restrictions and rules on it. can do thisic party by having conversation with people about what they need from us. i have had a lot of people answer this question. i don't know that has been answered. they know what they need from us. we need to go ask them. we need a conversation with the millions marching, what do you need from the party? i imagine at the end of the day it will be information. i want to know when the marches are, they want to know what the issues are. we have the infrastructure to be able to do that. 150 new organizations have sprung up in the last two months. that is incredible. this site is not just about the democratic party, this site is

about all of us. -- this fight is about all of us. we need to elect democrats. we need to become a service organization for the 21st century electric. that means we need to serve the needs of our members, serve the needs of her candidates and activists. those millions of people showing up to march have needs. we get to take the opportunity to ask them what their needs are, then figure out a plan. that is what i hope our leaders will do, have a conversation with them and figure out what their needs are. april: another question -- it was an outgrowth of the last presidential election cycle. she says, should we keep superdelegates? >> let me tell you all

something. you cannot win a game that you are not playing. for many years, democrats and republicans have been comfortable sitting at a table playing monopoly, or insert whatever game you want, and in this last election cycle, not only did donald trump, but the american people flipped that table. as democrats, we have a choice. we have an opportunity in the leadership, not just in the chair but across the board. we can choose to get on the floor and take those pieces up and get back where that game is done, where we can chart a new path. we have to reimagine our structures and processes. it is time to retire the updated concept of superdelegates. [cheering] [applause] mean, and i say this as i look at the dnc

members who are all superdelegates. we have to find a new way to honor the veterans of the party, to honor our elected officials. we have to stand shoulder to shoulder and understand that innovation and transformation is powerful, and is possible if we do it together. it can't just start or stop with superdelegates. we have to take a look at caucuses. as a party, is we are not walking our values and electing a nominee through a system that disenfranchises shift workers and the disabled and seniors, and communities that we say make up this great party of ours, then we are not the democratic party that we claim to be. thank you.

>> thank you. i want to know that 12 years ago when we elected howard dean, i was the regional chair. i feel your pain today. superdelegates -- this is how the delegation votes in the convention. ands get to the real issue, the issue is making sure that the vote of the delegation represents the vote of the people. reforming theport system twofold superdelegates into the allotted delegates. when you get into the convention like in new hampshire it will be 60% bernie, 40% hillary, and everyone would be involved. the superdelegates is almost code for the bigger issue. the issue is about neutrality. as the chair of the new hampshire democratic party in 2008 and 2016, there is nobody on this earth that will suggest

that i put my thumb on the scales for any candidates. sorry mayor who supported hillary. i am the one who was neutral throughout this entire nominating process. i stood there with bernie. i went in with him to make sure he got filed with the secretary of state said no, you are not a democrat, you can't file. superdelegates, we can never again signed a joint fundraising agreement with a candidate in the primary. that should never happen again. [applause] no longer should the chair be able to our polarity -- able to arbitrarily decide. dnc whenld go to the we have people from all walks of life. let us make sure that we are actually heard when this comes. i agree, in the issue of the caucasus, we need to make sure

that everyone that wants to participate can participate in that the rules are the same across the country. april: thank you. i am going to tom perez next. what do you think about that, superdelegates? om: three of the most important principles for the chair are fairness, inclusion, and transparency. we need to address a wider range of issues. if i have the privilege of being your chair, i would recommend that we sent the primary debate schedule long in advance of when we know the candidates. there can be no doubt that anyone is trying to put the thumb on the scales of justice. everything we do must be transparent, and it must be the product of a process that involves everybody. that is what culture change is about. the culture of the dnc has been far too secretive. i speak to members all the time

that don't know anything until they get to the meeting. that is not right. they don't have involvement in the setting of agendas. we need to change the culture. we need to put all of those issues, superdelegates, the caucus process -- in nevada, you had to win the lottery in order to be able to vote. those that worked at mgm could vote and still get paid. if you worked for shuttle even some, no such luck. that is not how this should work. that is why we need a robust commission. we need to put every voice here. there are a lot of folks that have viewpoint diversity on issues of caucuses, superdelegates. april: respect, please. civility. --i haven't do agree with happen to agree with allegation of superdelegates. there are those that i respect

that have a different point of view. i heard that the dnc chair all too frequently unilaterally decides how that should go. i want to make sure every person, member or not, is engaged in this process. this is about culture change. we need to be transparent. april: we are going to the dnc for question. we have a couple questions. let's move the mic around. please ask your question. >> hi, i am from new jersey. since i only have one question i am not only going -- i am not going to ask about why republicans frame their messages much more simpler with single words rather than we do, polysyllabic words. i will not mention why we can go to constituencies, raise millions of dollars, yet not have money to have a full-time constituency person.

but i will, as member of the executive committee representing the eastern caucus, in tandem with my brother across the river in new york who could not be here, ask the candidates what you expect from executive committee members, many of whom who have traveled across the country for a 2 or 3 hour meeting which is strictly controlled, and often at their own expenses. we have a lot of people and talent that want to do things for the party and be constructive. thank you. april: i will through the question to sam. >> thank you for the question. what what i do for the dnc members of the dnc chair, not just in meetings, but in general?

how do you play part in a democratic party where i am in charge? quizzically, you do need to be involved. look to theo future. we have discussed this attanasio. one thing we hit on his millennials and young people. there is one way to do that. you guys have the experience. you guys have done this for decades and years. it is time to adopt a mentorship role. teach me. show me how as a millennial how i can be as your chair, at this table. jeannie was the reason i got to be at this table. -- jamie was the reason i got to be at this table. he signed the petition. that is showing that you give a damn about the little people. jamie harrison, did you sign the petition? [applause]

>> i have been a member of the executive committee now, chair for 4 years, member of the executive committee for about 2.5 to 3 years. every meeting i have gone to, particularly over the past few years, you get an agenda that says, pledge of allegiance, new business, business, adjournment. -- old business, adjournment. [laughter] maybe there is a resolution there, too. i want to give a shout out to donna. the last executive committee meeting we had was more substantive where all of the vice chairs got to talk. i want to thank donna for that. we need to fundamentally change how we do meetings. we need to change how we engage dnc members. there are dnc members now -- let me see a show of hands -- how many of you got orientation the

first time that he became a d&c number? -- you became a dnc member? some type of orientation or mental. -- or mantle. if you don't know what your is,d is -- what your job how can you do it? [applause] right now if you sit on the executive committee, which is the governing body of the dnc, and you don't know the details and terms of the money spent and how contracts are given, how can you govern? how can you orchestrate what we are doing in this party? transparency and accountability have to be the way we move forward. it is the way we grow this party and rebuild the trust in this party. trust is an important thing in any relationship. we lost the trust of voters. we have also lost the trust of the members in the dnc. we have to regain that.

what i would do as chair is make sure that we do everything we can to engage members and have them participate so that we rebuild the trust. [applause] peter: question about what to do with the executive committee? as far as i am concerned, it should serve as a super board, or advisers if you will. it is easier i think to discuss matters with members of the executive committee, which is less than 447 people. to my way of thinking, the executive committee will be in regular contact, as i would be as chair, with members of the dnc. i think using the talents of members of the executive committee in areas where we have to focus, local organizing, candidates election, fundraising, election protection

-- the right whole host of other things, developing a platform and selecting candidates and winning elections. there are a whole bundle of issues. to the extent that i could get advice using the trades and professional training experience of the executive committee, that would be of great assistance. if i am chairman, that is the way i intend to use the executive committee. april: thank you. i will go to robert as well. everyone has had two questions. what would you do for the executive committee? robert: i feel that members of the executive committee should be able to report back what they livedone first, where they in the states, and the democratic party where they are located. and, what else have they done? have they reached out to

democrats abroad? resent to college democrats? have they reached out to the local democrat that may be running? have a broad issues to the table that are pertinent -- have they brought issues to the table that are pertinent for the dnc to get involved in? this conversation has to be two ways, not one way. we have to engage our brothers and sisters who are usually not involved. how many neighborhood meetings have you gone to as a democrat to recruit, to register, to reach out and have a conversation. how are they feeling? that is critical. we need to be seen in the community on issues that people normally don't feel our democratic or republican issues. --sing, health care playground events, rec center

events -- we need to be seen in the community to be a part of the community so that people know that we really care and are not elitist, just wanting to come to chicken dinners and receptions and travel around the country. thank you. april: thank you. let's go back to the floor for questions for the dnc. >> thank you, i am from california. , myhe interest of time question is those not on the state party site. i want to know, what have you done in your record, concrete examples that back at up? april: go ahead. >> let me tell you what we have done in indiana, mike pence's indiana.

winning for democrats in mike pence's indiana. first of all we have to recognize that you have to show up everywhere. i cut my teeth running for statewide office. i went to 89 counties. i broke the record for the most fried chicken assembled in one place. they decided the canoe festival in franklin county set a world record. you just have to show up. since becoming mayor, i've been able to do that in new ways. i have been able to support her thick candidates, like helping joe taylor, a state representative. the first african-american in a long time to represent indianapolis. just the kind of guy we need to be standing up for. we were able to help him win in a purple district even in the face of that trump wave. we have to engage our local officials to be doing more for the state and national party.

as a mayor, you have that local trust in your own fund-raising networks. frankly, very little is asked of me by the national party. we have a better opportunity to wire that up. it is symptomatic of what we have to do broadly as a party, which is simply show up. the 50 plus read straight strategy is gone now. it was controversial at the time, but it worked. not just because money and resources for going to the state party. that was critical, but not sufficient. it works because of the structure of it, which i am afraid we have gotten away from in more recent years. which is that resources were distributed according to a plan that was formed in a pattern of respectful, and includes working partnership formulated by the chairs in partnership with the dnc, not simply pushed down from washington, and not a fire and forget distribution of resources. april: thank you very much.

[cheering] thank you. toalk, i campaign, i call get democrats elected in the district of columbia. -- jeremy or state party, i have -- chair of our state party. blessedly, she was successful. forve been working democrats and getting them elected since jimmy carter. i was not a part of any state committee. i am also a retired military veteran. [applause] stand the principles of the democratic party where

people don't want to your that, where people want to criticize the democratic party. i defend the party and the issues we support. i am not free to lean in and tell people why it is beneficial to be a democrat. that their livelihood has improved because of the principles and policies that are supported by the democratic party. we need democrats that are not republican-lite. [applause] april: akrugt -- alirght, sam. sam: i was not able to be part of the democratic party until i was able to run. in lawrence county, ohio, -- warren county, ohio we are

extremely republican. you said, how would i engage with the state? the state is not important in this question. it is, how do we engage at the local level? once we take care of the ground floor, doing her job standing up for democratic values will take care of the state in and of itself. the state has to only focus its efforts on stage, and congressional races. needs to have happen is a strong and integrated local community. we don't have a presence in over 3000 counties. we lost rural america over 30 years. that is why they don't like us. that is why they don't trust us. how do we engage with them? everyone is talking about talking to people, getting us on board. i am doing it. this list right here. many of you have seen me, like who is this guy wearing a sweater asking me questions?

i have been asking every single one of you that i came across today what you would do if you could be the democratic chair for a day. what is that one thing? that is engaging, and that is what we need to do. that is what we have not been doing for 30 years. that is what we need to be talking about. [applause] gentleman's the criteria -- do you fit the gentleman's criteria, mr. ellison? been part of never the state party. we have the highest voter turnout in the state of minnesota. that's because i work with my state party on turnout. district has the highest turnout and consistently has the highest turnout. [applause]

i have raised over $1 million to my state party. the reason that can more is a strong supporter of mine is because ken knows that i am an excellent partner for him. ken called me and said, hey keith, would you mind going to nevada to work out unity issues? i got on the phone, connected with my good friend, and we sat in a room for five hours working out unity issues because my state party chair asked me to. given money and then the speaker at 6 congressional districts in st. cloud, 7 in -- all overth, 5th the state of minnesota. i also hope other state parties. i gave $5,000 to the louisiana

state party and they won the governor's office. i have been to nebraska to speak at the state party. i have been to utah and many others. actually 28 states. if you are a state party chair and are looking for a good partner in the dnc chair, i am that guy. i have been there for you, and i will there be for you. [applause] the reason is there a simple are is very simple,, you where the votes are. we have to have d.c. the company state too. we want to be where the voters are. thank you. april: peter, -- is there anybody else that fits this question's criteria? peter: the question is, what have i done to empower state

parties? specifically wisconsin's state party. how have i campaigned? degrees, it is the four primary, and there is a square-mile the needs door hangers on every door. people don't know what i mean because it is all electronic these days. if you take a piece of literature and carry it around and hang it on every door. 97 degrees, and we covered a square-mile that day. next people needed rides to the polls, so i drove people to the polls. over 10 or 20 locations i had to ndt an instantaneously 1, 4, a 6, help the candidates out. i contribute money to candidates, made an interesting suggestion one day -- there is a problem with optical scan

ballots. if they are not printed, the vote does not register properly. we're getting reports that ballots elsewhere when i getting properly printed. if that happened in wisconsin, we would lose a lot of votes for barack obama. i mentioned this at a meeting. i said there is this problem with how they are putting the balance, we ought to check it. someone said, that is a great idea. otended up checking each ball in each one of the 213 each one of the-- 312 boards. i have contributed money to candidates and have done a number of other things to turn out the vote, particularly on election day to make sure the votes suppressed at the polls. that is a partial list of what i

have done to empower the state party. april: thank you sir. [applause] i was baptized in the democratic party as the executive director of texas young democrats. [applause] one of the issues in this conversation is that we all focus on the 50 state strategy, a strategy developed over a decade ago is not going to cut it in this unprecedented political reality. we need a new strategy. we need someone who is a strategist. we need someone who is an organizer. in this unprecedented moment, we don't need another politician. while i started off as a texas young democrat and spent time doing grassroots fundraising, running the democratic national immittee's office of women,

have worked outside of the party and built progressive institutions. when we talk about the millennial generation, i am sorry, it is not enough. it is a dishonor to say to turn up the millennials, elect a millennial. you should look who was actually innovative and increased turnover by 11% as president of rock the vote. look to the person who has helped change the conversation around immigration as founder of "define american." look for someone who has succeeded in the corporate sector, and yet at the same time has always worked to put pressure on her party to better itself. that is what this moment calls for if we do not recognize that business as usual is not going usual is, politics as not going to cut it. the strategy to address what has

been upended in our political system is not going to come from doing the same things we have done in the past. i have worked with this party. i have advocated outside. that is the leadership we need. [applause] >> strong parties have strong partners. one of the partners is in this organization,able that 30 years ago was in the basement of a church. d.c., casa pennsylvania helped me be the first latino elected to the maryland county council in maryland. it highlights the element of culture change. you will hear me talk, we have to change the culture of the dnc.

there are three dimensions to culture change. we have to define the dnc as more than someone who helps elect a president. we need to go from the school board to the senate to build strong parties. the second dimension of that culture change is making sure that we are coordinating with her partners like casa maryland, like the labor unions, like planned parenthood, making sure we are standing up for them when planned parenthood is getting attacked, when the union movement is under assault, when the farmworkers or brick layers are under assault. we need to change the culture so we are with them. we need to make sure we are doing all of this. culture change involves talking to you. mostnc members are the underutilized folks i have seen in a long time. that is how we change culture, when we have a turnaround agent.

i have done turnaround in scale. the labor department i got it was second from the bottom invest places to work. six,i left, we were number we were in the top third. good leaders listen to their state party workers. they asked the most important questions that you can ask, which is, what do you think? [cheering] april: let me open to the floor for another question. i just want to bring us back to structure. i hear a lot of things. i wanted to apply people for the applaud peopleo for the excitement and enthusiasm. chairsto exclude party or those who have worked for the party. how many of the rest of you have either been to your county

committee, state committee, or a national committee meeting? meeting.draiser, but april: raise your hands if this vote applies to you. >> the next question is, how many of you have read the charter -- i see that her doing this, i want to know why. oh, i see they are doing this, i want to know what the history is. how many of you have read the charter and asked questions going forward? april: raise your hands. thank you. that was a fast lightning round. on that line, we have a question from someone from baltimore. when will the dnc speak about what we are for? a big question mark.

"we speak on what persons we are against, but don't put a face on the politics that gives us trouble in anxiety." amen. [laughter] imed am my major and optimistic positive person who sites for what i believe in. an optimisticure person who fights for what i believe in. it took me some time since trump won to say, this is still my nature. we have a narcissist that we have to fight against. as i have been doing vessels urging, i have -- doing that soul-searching, i have had conversations with others doing the same. ?ow do we balance that out what i know is that people who

fight against do that really well. they know what they are fighting against and they are very vocal about it. we have seen that in the last year and the last two months. i decided we needed to give them the information they need to fight against, and keep empowering them to do that. what i know for myself is that the democratic party has not been providing me, the state of idaho, and our country the positive national brand that we can deliver our values to the people of america. , maybe morey need than anything else, to embrace who we are. i heard someone earlier saying that we have an identity crisis. i call bs on that. kenny democrat will -- any democrat will tell you why they are a democrat.

we just need that positive message to talk about who we are. there are so many people doing great work in a country, and we need to tell those stories. we need to find out the city council person who is doing the minimum wage bill. you.: thank my answer might cost me this race. i'm sorry. while many of you know that i am openly gay, what many of you don't know is that i came from the lowest of the white working class. when we areyou, running hundreds of millions of dollars worth of commercials ouring the voters, oh, opponent is offensive. when you are worried about your job, whetherour

your kids are going to school, they don't really give a crap about if the president is an insult dog. the reality is that we did not offer a positive message. we did not offer a message to my neighbors. we did not offer a message to the people in indiana or ohio or pennsylvania or kentucky. what we did is say, how offensive! grow up. that is not reality for most of america. [applause] april: jaime harrison, thank you. >> this is a drop the mic moment? >> our problem has not been telling people what we believe in and what our values are. that is the problem. we have been telling it to them and not showing it to them. i was in ninth grade social studies teacher. shen i always thought my kid

the most persuasive thing is to show and not tell. we have been telling families for decades that we are fighting for them. when do we start showing that to them? started aarolina, i program based on this concept of show, not tell, called "south carolina democrats care." it is this idea that you don't have to be in power to empower people. we go into the community, service projects, changing peoples' lives. we can't become a political organization and beg for votes. we have to change from that. we have to become a community organization that is working on a grassroots level to help people solve the issues they are faced with.

[applause] example, sumter county, south carolina, every august there are tons of working families, black-and-white, latino, who can't supply school supplies for their kids. we do a school supplies drive with the democratic banner underneath it. people say, think you to the democratic party because you just helped me get school supplies for my kids. resume skills and workshops, helping people with their kids -- that is how you change a party and built trust with the people. my friends, we have to go from telling people, to showing. [applause] hi, i am a former chair of the maryland democratic party. [cheering] claim the current dnc chair woman from maryland. this is great.

welcome to my state. i'm so proud to have you here. questions back, when secretary perez was speaking, i heard some passion in the room interrupting him. i will not call it anger, but passion, because that is what it is. my question for you is, how do we get past that? what is your formula for getting us past that? we cannot move forward if we continue to swim in this quicksand of anger. the anger needs to be directed at donald trump, not anybody on this stage. [cheering] that passion erupted statement,perez'

let's ask him, how would you handle that? tom: first of all, thank you to your question, and thank you to everyone who is here. a party without passion is not a party. people without passion are not going to get anything done. it reminds me of thanksgiving dinner in my house. we have a lot of viewpoint diversity. the way we move forward as a party is to remind ourselves of what our values are. when we lead with our values, we win. when you look at everybody on this dais, we have those progressive values of inclusion, of opportunity. hubert humphrey said the moral test of a nation is how we treat those in the twilight of life, the elderly, and how we treat those in the shadows of life. that has been the story of our public service for those on this

dais. i am proud of my public service, whether it's taking down joe apaioi, -- joe whether it's taking on wall street, addressing police reform, i am proud of all of those fights that i have fought. i am proud of the battles i have fought to ensure that people with disabilities have a fair shake in this country. i don't have a monopoly on those values. everybody shares those values. what we need to do moving forward is to understand that reality, so that we can do exactly what you that said, which is to train our energies in unity on the most destructive and dangerous person effort to hold the presidency of the united states, and that is donald trump. [applause]

and folks in the republican party for the most part have a mouth, so we have to do it. [cheering] april: keith ellison? keith: one of the most important things for me to say right now is that we are all friends up here. we admire each other, we respect each other. assure you that when tom was secretary of labor, i had no better friend. i want people to know that i respect him, assure you that wh. he is my friend. i was telling people earlier today, that cat is really articulate. i was bragging on pete because of how dogged he is in protecting our votes. i could go on and on about how gifted these people are.

this is a family meeting. [applause] we have to understand this, democrats -- the democratic party is not for the democrats, it is for the american people. we are all agents of the american people, and we must fight for them all the time. we can never be confused about who the problem is. absolutely,d trump, but don't forget kasich, don't forget all of these states with bad guys denying people water, health care, denying people a right to choose. i am telling you right now, we need each other. we have nothing to lose in this fight. we are for a lot of stuff. i am for conference of immigration reform. i am for lgbt writes. i am absolutely for the muslim group of democrats that came to

see me earlier that sent, we are going to be involved. we are not going to be scared. dear going to stand up strong. they know that you care about them. speak highly of democrats. don't be afraid to be one. april: thank you sir. [applause] us, and i each of want to applaud both tom and what keith has been able to bring to this race. the energy in this room is very apparent. hat what is though t they of -- what they have all pledged to do, we are in this together. we don't have the luxury of complainant. -- of complaining.

if you are supporting anybody at this table, that is fine -- i still want you to read this. what it is is a plan. it is not a plan that i just thought of. legale it on a piece of pad in the state chairs meeting. whether i am chair or not chair, i don't care. this plan talks about the nominating process, transparency and accountability for the state parties. it talks about making sure that the dnc is open and accessible to everybody. it talks about how we win. you can steal it. you can go home and tell everybody those are your ideas. because i don't care. i don't think anybody here cares who gets credit. we have to start winning again. we have to stand up to donald

trump, the republican members of congress, republican legislators, mayors, and city councils, and we can win. we can win in virginia this year. we can win in the municipal elections. if we get our act together, emphasis together, we can have an amazing 2018. we have to start the day after the election. the election is on the 25th. the 26th, we need to start working. >> i agree with everything that everyone said. it. to -- it falls to human things like trust, respect, the diversity of our party. we are a diverse party.

host: obviously we have lost the signal from baltimore. live coverage of the democratic chair candidates forum. we are working to repair that signal. standby while we do that. hopefully our coverage will

continue momentarily.

again, we are working to restore our connection to the dnc chair forum live on c-span. while we work on the program, one of our house freshman profile issues. we spoke to representative david kustoff, who represents the eighth district of that state of tennessee. ,> congressman david kustoff what did you do before you came to congress? kustoff: i was attorney for the western district of tennessee for a couple years during president bush's tenure. i have enjoyed the practice of law. i have enjoyed representing the the chief and law

enforcement officer for the district. >> tell our viewers what once was operation tennessee waltz. rep. kustoff: in the mid-2000 in the tennessee legislature, there was a level of corruption among state legislators. the u.s. attorney's office and attorney,ore i became developed operation tennessee waltz, where a fictional conflict was created. " members oflobby the tennessee legislature. of course, they were bribing those members who had been engaged in other activity they should not have been engaged in. i prosecuted those cases after

they were indicted. it resulted in the conviction of 12 members of the legislature, the main thing is that it sent a signal to elected officials across the state of tennessee that you just cannot engage in that type of behavior. you know, nobody is above the law the matter what your titlist. -- matter what your title is. the one thing that i told the members of my community during that investigation -- i believe it then and i believe it today that the majority of the people who are involved in public service are good, honest people. politically, you may not agree with them all the time -- thee have restored satellite in baltimore and we will take you back to the dnc

chair form live coverage. >> one of the only race is the won that year. it was complete republican control. and then something changed in 2006. that is when howard dean came in to the dnc, worked with state parties, and enacted the 50 state strategy. the won the house and the senate. we won and states we never thought we would win on. we won filling kansas -- and kansas. . kansas.n in what do we do when 2008? we won the white house. something. did we shifted from being the democratic national committee to becoming a democratic national presidential committee where all we focused on was the presidency and nobody else.

it was great that we had complete control and washington, d.c., but let me tell you, the people in south carolina were still suffering because we had a republican governor and republican legislature. there are 3000 people who still do not have health care in -- lina because we don't we have to focus and energize and every state party in this nation. new jersey, maryland, maine, massachusetts, vermont -- what do they all have in common? republican governors. republicans do not feed any territory to us. we have to start doing that to ourselves. we have to be about all of the states. >> thank you. [applause] >> i totally agree with what you said. in addition, we did not make house calls in 2016. we forgot to talk to people. big proponentm a

of data analytics, but that does not replace good old-fashioned doorknocking, my friends that s. the didn't communicate our values to people. when donald trump says i am going to bring those coal jobs back, we know that is a lie. our response was, vote for us because he's crazy. we have got to move forward and we got to make sure that we get back to that strategy, but here are some of the things that i have seen that we are doing that we got to take to scale. we have to do more candidate training as part of the core mission of the dnc. like beer doing in new jersey

where they have a program -- like they are doing in new jersey with a have a program helping operatives. we have to totally reorient our approach to voter protection and empowerment because voter suppression is one of the biggest threats to our democracy that is out there. that is why i called for a dedicated unit of voter protection and empowerment where we place -- where we play defense and offense working together with you, like the are doing in virginia where they have a dedicated voter protection officer. when we do that, we succeed and we need to have a center for best practices so we can go in say, hey, alaska, you flipped your house democrats. how did you do it? kansas, you won 14 seats in the state house. how did you do it? >> thank you, sir. general greene? [applause]

make iteople who do not into ropelike like this, they hear platitudes and promises, but they don't hear answers. there are a number of questions that are then asked for there haven't been specific answers. it platitudes and promises will not address the passion that event spoke about -- that yvette spoke about. we have to have a d&c later that is going to speak truth to power and say very specifically, i acknowledge the wounds of bernie sanders's supporters who feel that they were left out of the selection unfairly. and i also acknowledge the wounds of hillary clinton's supporters who feel that sexism and misogyny has been too rampant in our party and in the media on how she was treated. and we have to have a leader who was the terms of power to this

institution of the democratic have and say, we ourselves racism, sexism within our own ranks and we have too much complexity. the obama years were great in the enough out of recession, but a decimated the dnc. the clinton campaign treated this institution with disrespect. and so, we need a leader who is going to speak truth to power and put actual specific plans in place. to go toach of you dnc.org and look at my plans to reengage so we can wins again as democrats -- so we can wins as democrats. we have to start answering questions. charterstion about the -- we have raised our hands. if you read the charter and if you were in the session for the vice chair, those that said at this table don't have a real job or real resources.

as chair of the dnc, i would think sure every look at the charter and we give them money. >> thank you. thank you. [applause] >> so, i am going to take the gloves off. you talked about tooth the power. i was the one that started that in houston. you want to talk about telling people that the d&c is the only people who get to decide the fate and future millions of americans? i believe you said each of you to carry the weight burden of 150,000 lives. that is an awesome responsibility and one that alludes to the superdelegates. let's take that were for example -- superdelegates, greater than a regular delegate. though superdelegates have the same weight as 25% of the entire voting base, millions of votes. that is undemocratic. you want to talk about two to power -- i am the only candidate at this table who has sworn to

not take corporate and lobbyist money. that is not the way we do business in the democratic party. you want to talk about more truth to power? we need open primaries. any open debates. we need to get rid of -- we need open debates. we need to get rid of extra acidity. -- we need to get rid of exclusivity. tom, i think has adopted my policy. you want to talk about leadership? that is leadership, leading by example. now, to retract the clause. been doing the passion because i am a part of that passion and i got 30 seconds left. let me see if i can bring it home. we have been hurting as a country. millennials, progressives, conservatives. libertarians. we have been at work for each other and we have been hurting

for decades and we have been waiting for a person to step up and say, enough is enough. we are americans. first and foremost, we need to talk with each other, we need to compromise. that is politics. until we do that, none of these plans, none of these people will work. [applause] >> thank you. >> i want to be very clear. every single word that has already been uttered and about to be uttered i agree with. i will skip forward. i will skip forward. the question was, what is the democratic party going to do about small business, and how will be better connect? here is the solution i just thought of. [laughter] earlier today, you heard from senator maggie hassan from new hampshire, the only democrat to be republican u.s. senator and a purple state, by the way. [applause] below knee to tell you, $75

million was spent on her campaign -- let me tell you, $75 million was spent on her campaign. let me were people that, $75 million. if we had taken $2 million of that and hired 100 full-time workers and $50,000 a year? for two years? media in newrate york over ever that owns all the television stations, let them take the $65 -- let them take the $65 million. give me the $10 million. when we get into those communities and talk to people, and those 100 employees will be buying things from small businesses. to the be going

restaurants, maybe renting, may be buying a new car and investing in the communities and make the economy grow. we have got to get off on that money train that we are spending $1 billion of corporate media and we can invest right in our own communities. [applause] time left over. >> my good friend earlier said he'd would say some in the public cost him the election. what i know -- what i'm going to say i know will. we are good at speaking and saying, speak power, speak truth. but what we don't do is speak to to each other. hillary rodham clinton did not win the democratic nomination because of superdelegates. she won because democrats across america voted for her. it is just that clear. [applause] but we did is we booed, but we

did not vote. the protested, but we did not vote. we got mad, but we did not turn that madness, that anger into passion and vote for the democratic nominee. that is what happened. ine of us walked away november, and some of them are in this room. you want to talk truth? that is the truth. [applause] and one more truth. [applause] statehood for d.c. is good for the democratic party. [applause] if you wanted 30 seconds, you got them. >> thank you.

i think the question was about where we have gone wrong? and i think the challenge is we got to learn from the past without reliving it. i did not love losing the primary the first time. --on't know why they want to i don't know why we would want to live through it a second time. sorry, but i am horse from campaigning. what motivated me to get into this race is that we cannot allow this to devolve into a struggle. we cannot pretend the status quo is ok, or that everything went along just fine. we got to move forward. if the outcome of this dnc chair race is that half the party feels like it has been sent packing, we are going to be that much further on the back for dealing with the real opposition.

so, everybody has that their theory of what happened. let me tell you what i noticed in my part of the country in the industrial midwest. by the way, it is entertaining for us from a diverse city in the industrial midwest a semi-find ourselves subject of exotic fascination of political analysts on the coasts steadiness. we are not even a complicated. we just want people to talk to us and talk in terms that relate to our actual lives. we spent so much time talking about the politicians like that is what really matters. [applause] i was guilty of it. i have the button when we were campaigning that said -- i am with her. and then when we realized what the opponent was, it was all about him. she is terrible -- he is terrible. but the people at home are saying, who was talking to me?

everything we say has to be explained in terms of people's actions. real lives. >> thank you, peter. thank you. [applause] >> the question was about lessons learned. this is a forward-looking response to that, and my response should be taken this way. early this afternoon, i sent out a proposal to all the members of the democratic national committee, to all the members of the press here, concerning forward-looking actions by the democratic national committee to protect our most precious asset. one of our principal assets, which is a nomination for president of the united states. endorsedosal has been by seth waxman. seth waxman was a solicitor general of the united states from 1997 to 2001. website.o on my

the proposal and the solicitor general if the person principally responsible for representing the united states of america before that united states supreme court. that proposal provides that anybody who is going to campaign for beer a recognized candidate -- to campaign or be recognized candidate for the office of president vice president in our party, or gets the nomination, will agree ahead of time in writing, both before the primary start and right after the convention, that in the event after the polls close, the chair of the party notifies the candidate in writing that there are reasonable grounds to believe that an effort to flaw and an apparent

any case or congressional district in the state with congressional district are awarded one vote each, the nominee will provide cooperation to the dnc to contest the results behalf of the nominee. and i will continue drop the process. >> thank you. keith ellison? this -- i understand.sir, >> that cannot take my time did it? >> no, you have two minutes. >> friends, the question was, what about small business and what went wrong? that was the question. i just want to say that i think would happen with small business can explain what went wrong. we stopped telling the american people that we are fighting for them every single day. we stopped telling working

people who work hard every day that the democratic party is all about them. let me tell you, small business people are working people. you know, let me tell you -- 56% of all americans have less than $1000 in the bank. many of those people might have been former union members or irrent union members who said will start a hustle on the site and get a business going. you know what? we have to understand that small businesses have to be a part of our constituency. we cannot say republicans are the pro-business party. we got to be the pro-business party who says we are the ones protecting our people from monopoly. look, if you go down to louisiana, it is a shrimp and business, an oyster bed. up a smallset business council and organize among small business people.

we have to get small business people understanding that we are going to be there advocates fighting for them every day. [applause] there are people out there who are like i got a great union job, but i have always had a didn't open up a barbershop. the democratic party has to be the kind of party that says we are going to fight to make sure you can do that. businesso use small defenders. the dnc does a lot of business, millions of dollars. we ought to do business with of people ofses color and women. >> thank you, sir. thank you, sir. wow. [applause] you know, this has been a very great day for me. i have never seen this before. as a white house correspondent nearly 20 years, this is my first time, and it is great to democracy, at least a

piece of democracy begins to work. yes. [applause] 10 on the state will be the next head of the democratic national committee. the votes are in later this month in atlanta. one of these can. i want you -- one of the ten. i want you to give them a big round of applause. we are not done yet. [applause] yes, yes give them a big round of applause. [applause] this is not an easy task. this is not an easy task. they may be going up against what we see right now in the white house. time,hat, we are out of but what we will have our closing statements, one minute each. each, ok, watch it now.

we are going to start off with sally brown, one minute. and that give her a microphone. sally: one of the reasons i decided to run for care is i was not hearing enough of the how? as i have gone through this process, i have an 11 page plan of the how. what it boils down is one-on-one conversations and one-on-one connections. we need to teach the people of america how to talk to the people in america. muchmply disagree on too and are focusing on the things we disagree on. i have spent five plus hours a day on social media since i decided to run for chair, and i have had conversations purposefully with the people i disagree with the most. i have had a lot of conversations with republicans and independents and democrats who have left the party and don't want to come back. we all need to be having those conversations because it is by

building relationships with each other that we will find our way back into this country. i challenge each of you to reach out to somebody you disagree with. the next time somebody disagrees with you, don't walk away. >> thank you so much. jamie? jamie: one of the teams we sometimes forget is that this is a job in this job has some responsibilities. that main responsibility is building a party. not being spokesperson, but building a party. in that, i think there are four things -- we need a builder, someone with a history of building parties. putting the systems together and empowering and giving capacity to those parties. somebody who is an organizer, organize and the diversity of our party. someone who is a visionary looking past two to four years and looking long-term. how big block party be? but most important, someone who

is a fighter. and i am not saying fighting against donald trump, but someone who has been through some things. someone who has seen some things and can relate to the challenges that american people are facing on a day-to-day basis. i believe i have those characteristics, and i can be a great dnc chair. [applause] >> politics is the people business. public service is the people business. it is why copy people like elliott. it is about helping the union member who lost her job and we help her get back on her feet. that is what this is about. making sure we put our values and action every day. we put put our action -- our values into action every day, opportunities and inclusion help says win votes. our values of the values of the majority of americans. ist we need in the dnc chair somebody who can take that fight to donald trump. someone who can bring together

the entire party. some of what they proven track rep fighting. and someone who has a track record of a turnaround agent at scale. this is a big turnaround job. it require someone who has done that. i have had the police -- i have had the privilege of doing that at four different agencies throughout my career, and i would love the privilege of being your leader so we can put our values into action. thank you. [applause] > >> the stakes are too high for business as usual. the chair of the dnc needs to be a strategist, a seasoned organizer, and a fierce messenger. someone who understands these unique times we are living in. someone who understands this institution in both the inside and out, and someone who is not afraid to tackle the long-standing challenges that we have faced as a party. if we think that this challenge

is only focused on donald trump or on what happened in 2016, then that is not telling the whole story. so we do have this opportunity to transform the party. we have an opportunity to move from politics to purpose. and i want to be a champion to help us do that. i want to be a champion to make sure that women who are not just the backbone of our democracy, but they are the backbone of this party. that they are celebrated, trained, and mentored. and i want to be a champion to make sure that we as a party take this unique opportunity for transformation. >> thank you. [applause] is, where do we go from here? we talk about leadership, but who really embodies leadership? let's define it. iadership is i and the hero, have done this, i can do all of these things. that is a manager. an administrator.

a leader is someone who empowers was walked the walk, talk the talk and is doing it as we speak. it is not so much that we need to forget the past and look to the future because that is not enough. fdr was our prime example of what it is to be a democrat. i alluded to this before. we are hurting and we need a chance to heal. there has only been one candidate that need to heal and address the needs of others and has been doing that the entire time. i am the so much that most qualified person on paper because you cannot put leadership on a resume. it is something you are and live and you need to be inspired and have hope again. if we don't, it does not matter how much we do. >> thank you. ay buckley? ray: i encourage you to go on to my website. ray4dnc.org.

you will see specific plans and proposals. a lot of this is a race to see who should be the driver of the car. we don't understand that the cars broken down on the side of the road. we need someone who can lift the carhe hood and fix the damn , and that is my record because i get results. you look at my plan about changing the nominating system, my plan of opening the dnc and straightening the party, and nobody can match that. you look at my record estate have wone democrats races in new hampshire in our state's history. we have won those races and i will do that as chair. >> thank you, sir. robert? >> i want to thank april and donna and julie in the city of baltimore.

it is an wonderful being here this afternoon. [applause] and also with so many good democrats. when you go to church, your pastor has a way of saying look to your neighbor. look to your neighbor and tell them that we democrats are stronger together than we are fighting one another. we are stronger together than being opposed to the kinds of things that brought us here. and we will be stronger together when d.c. get statehood. thank you. [applause] >> thank you, sir. peter? >> thank you. thanks for the opportunity to be here and thank you for everything you do for the democratic party, everybody in this room. when i ran for mayor when i first ran five or six years ago,

our city was on a list of 10 dying cities in america. and i ran based on the idea that a fresh start to bring our city back. now we are extending the fastest population growth and a quarter century. i got reelected with 80% of the vote, not because i shop for thing, butgical because we delivered results. i want to deliver the same kind of result of the democratic party that needed now more than ever. [applause] we are the party that speaks to everybody. you can't take one look at somebody and know who they are. trust me i'm the guy who spent thanksgiving morning in a deer farm with my boyfriend's father. we've got to speak to everybody. everybody needs to know that they belong in the american future, whether it is a blue collar worker wondering if they're going to have a job or a transgender teenager. we stand up for them. >> thank you, sir.

>> it was my privilege to participated in the woman's march in washington, d.c. on january 21. that was a forward looking group. they were looking forward to accomplish their goals among which the goal take then straight out of our party charter where equal rights of women are guaranteed in the constitution. our party has to make a lot of changes to accomplish that goal and a lot of others in our charter. i offer myself as a change agent to bring this about. it has been interesting to run and continue to run a grassroots campaign with unpaid volunteers all over the discountry and no budget. that is not the way i intend to run the dnc. there will be a budget available to the members and we're going to make the changes fliffs to bring about a better

opportunity for all americans including all the members of our party under the united states cons tuition. i thank you very much for coming to the event today. >> thank you, sir. and keith elsen. >> you know, everybody, we are in a moment where if you love this country and the people in it, it's time to step up. it's time to step up. that's why i'm running for dn nc chair and why i'm so grateful for you being part of this process. we need all of this energy to turn this country around and move it in a direction where labor is held up in dignity, where human rights are held up in dignity. now, if you want a chair that has electoral success who can help win elections, i think i'm the candidate here. i've won 13 elections of my own and turned my district into the highest turnout district in the highest turnout state. there are no statewide republicans in minnesota. not my governor, nobody. if you want somebody who can help raise resources to win

i've raised over 1 million to my state party. that's good news right state party chairs? and more than that, i've raised it from thousands of small donations. let me tell you, if you want somebody who is going to engage the grassroots i want you to know -- >> thank you, sir. >> thank you for your support. >> thank you, sir. >> here are your candidates for chair of the dnc. here are crour ten. one of these at the end of the month will be the chair, the new chair of the democratic national committee. it is almost over. and at this time it has been fun to be with you for hours. we started when i said good morning, baltimore. then i'm saying good evening, baltimore. thank you. >> thank you, april. thank you all of the candidates. this concludes our fourth and

final future forum. let me also thank all the candidates. we also would like to thank the hyatt hotel, the baltimore convention center. all the volunteers. the dnc staff. let's give staff a great round of applause. over half the dnc members have attended these events. now it's up to you. we appreciate all your help. for members of the dnc there are buses on brag street, there are buses on brag street to take you bag. and also, one final announcement before we conclude. if you lost a purse please go to the public safety office. and one final important announcement. all the candidates please pull up your signs and the hallway or else you will be fined.

we would rather spend money getting democrats elected. so please pull up your signs. help us clean up this place. god bless you all. we will see you in atlanta. weeks. god bless you, democrats. god bless you, america. weeks. god