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Unity Tour Reveals Democratic Party That's Anything But Unified

April 25, 2017

The Democratic Party's "Unity Tour" last week revealed a party that has been cracking apart.

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I., Vt.) led the "Come Together and Fight Back" tour alongside Democratic National Committee chair Tom Perez, but the rallies they held were marked by booing from the party's hard-left, Perez and Sanders couldn't get on the same page on numerous issues like health care, and Sanders couldn't even call himself a Democrat in a joint interview with Perez.

In addition, Sanders drew anger for not calling Georgia Democratic congressional candidate Jon Ossoff a progressive, while simultaneously endorsing Nebraska mayoral candidate Heath Mello, whose mixed abortion rights record infuriated the Democratic Party's pro-choice boosters.

The Washington Post called out Sanders' "strange behavior" in a blog post last week.

When CBS "Face the Nation" host John Dickerson mentioned the booing of Perez during his interview with Sanders on Sunday, the Vermont senator grinned.

Perez has received sharp criticism for his swearing on the campaign trail. Dickerson called it "thoroughly calculated" during a special comment segment on "Face the Nation," while the New Republic described the barrage of foul language as "ridiculous." Multiple CNN segments also panned Perez for his behavior.

After the tumult over Mello, party leaders like Sen. Dick Durbin (D, Ill.), Sen. Chuck Schumer (D., N.Y.), and Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D., Calif.) gave conflicting answers on whether the party was welcoming to pro-life views. Perez muddied the waters further with a statement that pro-choice views for Democrats are "not negotiable."

Speaking on the Democratic Party's minority status at the federal and state levels, Rep. Keith Ellison (D., Minn.), deputy chair of the DNC, cast blame on Barack Obama for not being a better party leader. When told of the comments, Rep. Elijah Cummings (D., Md.) said the blame belonged to all Democrats for their current electoral woes.

Although the party has largely been united in its opposition to Republican President Donald Trump, there are still major fissures that need fixing ahead of 2018.