Over 400 delegates from across the USA gathered in Oxon Hill, Maryland, a suburb of the capital Washington DC, to unite on the future direction after the party's catastrophic loss to Republican Donald Trump in the presidential election.
We were slapped in the face in November. Now it's time to get up from the mat, shake ourselves off, and get back into the fight, said the 51-year-old Martin from Minnesota after being elected on Saturday.
The Goal is the Working Class
Both he and the main challenger, Ben Wikler from Wisconsin, promised in their speeches to focus on middle-class voters – with the American term working class – and to stand firm in their support for minorities and fight for vulnerable groups in society.
The soul of the Democrats lies in the fight for the working people, said the 41-year-old challenger Wikler, who had the support of heavy-weight Democrats such as former Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer.
The two candidates agreed that the Republicans' development, with Donald Trump at the helm, were the direct opponents. At the meeting, promises were made, among other things, for faster and improved acute measures to try to prevent Trump from implementing his policy.
Strengthening Grassroots
But in the November election, the Democrats backed down in both the House of Representatives and the Senate. The new party chairman, comparable to the party secretary in Sweden, will be to strengthen the party at the grassroots level to regain the majority in Congress, according to Martin.
He replaces Jaime Harrison, who has chosen not to stand for re-election.
But the anxiety within the Democrats about the future was clear:
This is not a party chess game where everyone moves their pieces forward and backward in a respectful manner, said delegate Katherine Jeanes from North Carolina.
This is guerrilla warfare in political form.
