"Perez came very close to winning DNC chair on the first ballot. There were 427 votes cast, making the threshold for victory 214.5 votes."

"Perez received 213.5 votes. Ellison got 200. The crowd is stunned. A second round of balloting is about to get underway...."

UPDATE: "With 235 votes, former Labor secretary Tom Perez wins the DNC chairmanship on the second ballot. Ellison received 200 votes."

ADDED: Meade is laughing over the "Breaking News" headline at the NYT: "Democrats elected former Labor Secretary Thomas Perez as party chairman over Keith Ellison, a liberal from Minnesota." Do you see what's so funny? Why is Ellison referred to as "a liberal from Minnesota"? Yeah, where's Tom Perez from? Ah. New York. Why isn't he called "a liberal from New York"?

Tim Ryan wants Democrats to stop getting sidetracked.

On today's "State of the Union," Jake Tapper interviewed Tim Ryan, the Democratic Congressman from Ohio's 13th District who is challenging Nancy Pelosi for the position of House Minority Leader. Ryan's central point was that Democrats needs to be focused on economics and not sidetracked by "things like the Zika virus and other issues."

Ryan won his district, but so did Donald Trump, a fact that Ryan uses to promote himself as someone who understands the people who voted for Trump but can be brought "back into the fold." A "fold" is an enclosure for sheep:



Tapper asked him if he thought Democrats in Congress "should try to cooperate with Donald Trump and work with him on" some issues, and Ryan — with lots of caveats — said "we will look for places to work with him."

Tapper asked him about Keith Ellison the Minnesota Congressman who's going for chair of Democratic National Committee. Tapper plays a clip of Ellison being asked "why doesn't your party come out against the Second Amendment?" and answering "I sure wish they would. I sure wish they would." Tapper asks whether that is "the appropriate leadership for the DNC?" and his answer had us laughing at loud:

"Fear has won. We are all scared."

Writes Maajid Nawaz at The Daily Beast in "Keith Ellison Is a Muslim—and the Man to Lead the Democrats Into the Future/The Democratic Party leadership needs to learn from Hillary’s flop and Bernie’s message. One man stands out as the voice of tomorrow."

Fear has won. We are all scared. But as this mourning process moves from denial, to grief, and on to acceptance, we liberals, not just in the United States, but globally, must begin to consider how to regroup, reform, and resurrect.

That resurrection cannot come without a realization that the Democratic Party establishment has had its day. They blew it, big time....

Fear has won. We are all scared.

Remember when Democrats used to say ""The only thing we have to fear is fear itself"?

Was that only for when a Democrat got elected? When a Republican gets elected... go for full-out fear-mongering.

And, I know. I'm sure Nawaz would contend that it's Trump who scared everyone, and the anti-Trumpers are simply observing all the fear that he created. FDR, likewise, saw that fear existed and sought to do something about it. He didn't deny that there was fear, and he even stirred up fear, one particular variety of fear: the fear of fear.

IN THE COMMENTS: Larry J said:

I know something of fear. Back in 1976, I was a young paratrooper getting ready for my 8th jump. Something bad had happened on my previous jump. I narrowly avoided being seriously injured. Now, waiting for my next jump, my imagination kicked into hyperdrive. We boarded the plane and climbed, heading for the drop zone. Soon after the "six minutes" call, we were told to "Stand Up!". We went through the drill. "Hook up." "Check static line." "Check equipment." "Sound off for equipment check." And then we waited. My fear was building on itself and I briefly considered unhooking and sitting down. That would've been the end of me as a paratrooper. I looked ahead to the door and saw my battalion commander was at the head of the line. He was eager to go. In that, he taught me the true meaning of leadership. He got me to do more than I thought I was capable of doing. The green light came on, the jumpmaster gave the order, and we all went out the door. Once outside, it was fun again.

Fear builds on itself if you let it. You have to be its master or it will dominate you. Perhaps some of those snowflakes truly are afraid of Trump. Perhaps they've believed the exaggerations and created some of their own, letting their fear build like compound interest. They can give in to their fears or they can learn to face them. Of course, there are those who benefit from sowing fear in others. Whether it's the latest doomsday prophesy or, as in this case, fear mongering to gain political power, they're the arsonists lighting fear's fires. What you do with them is up to you.