Sen. Bernie Sanders and DNC Chair Tom Perez have been crossing the country this week as part of the “Come Together and Fight Back” tour, with Sanders soaking up most of the cheers and Perez hoping some of that energy and enthusiasm rubs off on Democrats who decided they preferred the independent from Vermont to the DNC’s choice in 2016.
Speaking of choice, Sanders and Perez have found some common ground, not that they had to search very hard: Perez, Sanders, and Planned Parenthood’s Cecile Richards were one big happy family in Las Vegas, after Perez made it clear in a statement that the DNC would not support pro-life candidates.
Tom Perez just became 1st DNC chair to say all Dem candidates must support abortion rights https://t.co/ctua9ATfhr pic.twitter.com/iKYwNogjWU
— HuffPost Politics (@HuffPostPol) April 22, 2017
What happened to choice
— ladydee (@dd4ever21) April 22, 2017
hey @TomPerez is this true? Are you telling life long D's to get out if they don't support abortion?
— Fats sings Whole Lotta Lovin' On BlueBerry Hill (@jimmywhiz) April 22, 2017
https://twitter.com/DUPUY77/status/855774222962089985
https://twitter.com/AugerLou/status/855773228966572032
The Huffington Post reports:
Democratic National Committee chairman Tom Perez became the first head of the party to demand ideological purity on abortion rights, promising Friday to support only Democratic candidates who back a woman’s right to choose.
“Every Democrat, like every American, should support a woman’s right to make her own choices about her body and her health,” Perez said in a statement. “That is not negotiable and should not change city by city or state by state.”
When I ran for DNC Chair, I made a promise to protect women’s rights to safe, legal, and accessible abortion.
— Tom Perez (@TomPerez) April 21, 2017
As should anyone representing this party powered by women. https://t.co/4AHQiBg4mf
— ilyse hogue (@ilyseh) April 21, 2017
As part of that, I'm honored to sit down with progressive women leaders next week to discuss how we can best live our pro-choice values.
— Tom Perez (@TomPerez) April 21, 2017
Whatever one’s personal beliefs about choice, no government should legislate them onto others. Democrats trust women. Period.
— Tom Perez (@TomPerez) April 21, 2017
Diversity of belief is awesome. Imposing them on others not good. https://t.co/A65KJNVCaZ
— ilyse hogue (@ilyseh) April 21, 2017
So, forcing taxpayers to support abortion also is not good, right?
I am committed — as I have been my entire life — to ensuring access to the full range of reproductive health services, including abortion.
— Tom Perez (@TomPerez) April 21, 2017
Sanders made it clear he was on board in a tweet Saturday:
Women in this country will control their own bodies. Not the United States government.
— Bernie Sanders (@BernieSanders) April 22, 2017
— Cecile Richards (@CecileRichards) April 22, 2017
Today, @CecileRichards rallied with grassroots activists and supporters in Las Vegas. #FightBack @SenSanders @TomPerez pic.twitter.com/dVcP8ZctSF
— Planned Parenthood Action (@PPact) April 22, 2017
NARAL Pro-Choice America president Ilyse Hogue issued a statement applauding Perez for recognizing the party’s core values.
My thoughts on @DNC & @TomPerez very strong statement in support of women today. Let's work together 2 make sure we all live it every day. pic.twitter.com/XnqyEA6xIw
— ilyse hogue (@ilyseh) April 21, 2017
At the same time Perez was promising to cut off support for any Democratic candidate who didn’t support abortion, he was touting the Democrats’ “big tent” approach to 2018.
There is NO dem party rift on this. 7 in 10 Americans support access 2 abortion. Majority of self-identified rank & file Rs do too. /12
— ilyse hogue (@ilyseh) April 22, 2017
There certainly won’t be a party rift over the issue once the pro-lifers have been driven out of the party completely.
We r ALREADY big tent. We DO welcome ppl who identify as pro-life. What we won't & can't is empower those who foist views on others. /13
— ilyse hogue (@ilyseh) April 22, 2017
It’s going to be a big tent, but as was the case with the Women’s March, there’s an ideological purity test to get inside.
DNC chair Tom Perez says Democrats will be taking a "big tent" approach, fighting “in every zip code” in 2018. https://t.co/Dxg6JyrZla pic.twitter.com/1JCyWjWnoJ
— ABC News (@ABC) April 22, 2017
Also losing in every zip code
— Elite Politics (@ElitePolitic) April 22, 2017
* * *
Related:
Is Planned Parenthood getting THIS into ‘science’ at the #ScienceMarch? (Hint: NO) https://t.co/OQIYjzY7jB
— Twitchy Team (@TwitchyTeam) April 22, 2017
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