Democratic National Committee Chair Ken Martin said the party was “not dead” despite the party’s loss of the White House and Senate majority in last fall’s elections.
“We’re not dead as a party. We’re still alive and kicking, and we’re going to fight for our values, and we’re going to fight for American values at this time, when people are seeing what Donald Trump and the Republicans are doing at this time,” Martin said during a Monday appearance on MSNBC’s “The Rachel Maddow Show.”
Martin won the race to become the next DNC chair on Saturday in a highly-contested race. Democrats are looking to Martin to reestablish the party’s presence in states across the nation as preparations for midterm elections kickoff.
“There’s so many people that have struggled throughout this country over the last several years who are feeling forgotten, left behind, feeling like our party is not fighting for them anymore. And so, what we need to do in this moment when the stakes are so high, right, is to stand up and fight back,” Martin said during the interview.
“Give people a sense that we’re willing to advocate for their best lives and to make sure that we’re doing everything we can to build for better days to come, for not only Americans but for this world, frankly. There’s a lot at stake right now, and Americans are relying on our party right now to stand up to the excesses and extremes of the Trump administration right now,” he added.
Martin, well known for his tenure as Minnesota Democratic Farmer Labor party chair said he’s playing the long game when it comes to election bids and legislative wins.
“We don’t have to win every single battle, but we do need to win the war. And what I mean by that is we have to give people a sense of who they are. And this is really a question of which side are they on, which side are we on, right? And the contrast is very clear,” he told Maddow.
“The Trump administration and his billionaire Cabinet is on the side of the robber barons. This current crop of robber barons, which are trying to profit off the backs of hard-working men and women in this country,” he added.
“I know whose side I’m on. I know whose side the Democratic Party is on, and we’re on the side of hard-working men and women who just want the country to not forget about them, to make sure that we are center in their lives and focusing again, on making the American Dream real for all Americans.”
