The Democratic National Committee plans to take on members of its own party who aren't effective, regardless of age ... so says one of its highest ranking members.
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00:00So, David, is the plan to get rid of senior members in Congress because of their politics,
00:11their performance, or their age?
00:14So, look, I think that a lot of these members can be older.
00:19That's certainly one element that we look at.
00:20But, look, age is not the only factor here.
00:23What we look at more than anything is the effectiveness.
00:25Certainly, there are younger people that are not very effective, and there's older people
00:29that are.
00:30So, we're not trying to just take a big ax to this and say, well, if you're above a
00:33certain age, you can't be there by any means.
00:35We want to find the least effective members of Congress that are not doing a great job
00:40right now and find truly generational leaders to help elect them there.
00:44And sometimes that is going to mean challenging Democratic incumbents, because right now, our
00:48party's approval is awful.
00:49It's at 26% with our own base.
00:51If you look at that and you don't think that we need dramatic change, I don't know what
00:56to tell you, because we're in a moment of crisis here.
00:58We're losing voters of every demographic except the elderly and the well-educated.
01:02That is a crisis for the party.
01:04And we need to show how we are fighting back against Donald Trump and not just getting people
01:08to vote for us because we're not Republicans, but because we're here to fight for the American
01:12people against the special interests that have destroyed the American dream and how we
01:17are working to actively revive it.
01:18But it doesn't mean that we're going after anybody just because of their age.
01:22We're trying to be very targeted in this and make sure that members know that there
01:26is a real risk if you are not being effective, that you will be challenged.
01:29And frankly, if there is a member that's listening to this that thinks, oh, my God,
01:33what if I get primaried?
01:34I think they need to do some serious self-reflection and ask them why they are concerned.
01:38Because if you were effective, you do not need to worry in this situation.
01:41Obviously, this is something that you believe in.
01:44How much support or pushback are you getting at the DNC for this plan?
01:49We have different approaches at the DNC.
01:51There are some members of our committee that believe that officers should not be involved
01:55at all in any primaries whatsoever.
01:58Personally, I agree with not being involved in the presidential primary.
02:01But ultimately, we're in a crisis right now in the Democratic Party.
02:04And I believe it is essential that we show that we are dramatically changing.
02:07And to my friends who do disagree with me, I don't take it personally.
02:09We all are on the same side here of wanting to get back to winning and building a better
02:13country for all Americans.
02:14And I look forward to continuing to work with them on the things that we do agree on, especially
02:18winning back our young voters.