NewsNation political contributor Chris Cillizza on Thursday forecast that Democratic National Committee (DNC) Chair Ken Martinās short time in the role could be coming to its conclusion amid severe financial problems.
The DNCās financial turmoil is so severe that top officials have deliberated about the possible need to borrow money, The New York Times reported on Wednesday. Cillizza argued on his āSo Whatā Substack that the issues highlighted in the NYT article ā including Martinās dispute with David Hogg, a gun control activist who was elected to serve as one of the DNCās vice chairs ā are poor indicators for his future as DNC chair.
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āWhen you have a national party committee that is thinking about borrowing money to cover its bills ā Iāve literally never heard of that before. And Iām old. Iāve been covering this a long time. It seems to me that this may be the end of the end for Ken Martin at the DNC,ā Cillizza said. āI donāt know how you can continue if youāre in that bad a situation. There are major donors you still havenāt reached out to. You couldnāt get your house in order with David Hogg and that whole mess.ā
During his short tenure under Martin, Hogg announced plans to primary some incumbent Democratic lawmakers, which Martin took issue with. The DNC voted on June 11 to oustĀ Hogg from his vice chair position, Politico firstĀ reported.
āAnd now you have a giant piece in The New York Times detailing all of it. Thatās not going to help you raise money. A piece in The New York Times ā you know who reads The New York Times? Major donors to the Democratic National Committee,ā Cillizza continued. āA piece that makes it look like itās utter chaos, that you donāt know what youāre doing, that you spent the first six months of this year ā rather than going after Donald Trump and what heās doing ā trying to litigate these internal battles that you havenāt done all that well with.ā
āI mean, it feels to me like this story may be kind of the bell tolls for thee when it comes to Ken Martin,ā he said. āI donāt know how the Democratic Party continues on in this way, given that the party badly needs a leader who is helping it rebuild at the DNC.ā
The DNC currently lags significantly behind the Republican National Convention (RNC) in finances, according to the NYT. The DNC entered May with $18 million cash on hand, while the RNC entered the month with $67.4 million.
āI just donāt know how you stay on. If you canāt raise money from major donors to fund the party with Donald Trump in the White House, and given what Donald Trump has done in his first five months in the White House, I donāt know if youāre ever going to. So I think Ken Martin has probably reached the end here,ā Cillizza added. āI donāt know if he knows it yet. Maybe the people around him donāt know it yet. But man, I donāt know how you ā given everything, all the water under the bridge in these first five months ā how you weather a story like this one in The New York Times that makes clear that you donāt really know what youāre doing.ā
āBecause if you canāt raise the money to pay the bills ā much less get the party going again, back on its feet ā I mean, that is malpractice. Campaign malpractice 101,ā he said. āAnd if youāre a Democratic leader or want to be a Democratic leader, you cannot have another six months, or even three months, or maybe even another month that looked like these first six months of the DNC. So I think Ken Martinās days are very numbered.ā
The DNC did not immediately respond to the Daily Caller News Foundationās request for comment.
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