U.S. Democrats anoint new leader to take on Trump for 'working people'

by Robin LEGRAND

US Democrats picked a 51-year-old progressive activist on Saturday as their new leader, who must rebuild a party still reeling from last year's crushing presidential defeat -- and figure out how best to oppose Republican Donald Trump.

"The Democratic Party is the party of working people, and it's time to roll up our sleeves and outcompete everywhere, in every election, and at every level of government," Ken Martin, the new chairman of the Democratic National Committee (DNC), said in a statement.

The DNC, the party's governing body, raises millions of dollars each year to support and build infrastructure for candidates across the country, culminating every four years in the presidential election.

Martin, a relative unknown outside of the party, stressed the need for Democrats to reconnect with blue collar voters, and to take the electoral fight to all 50 states -- even bastions of conservative politics.

"Donald Trump and his billionaire allies are put on notice -- we will hold them accountable for ripping off working families, and we will beat them at the ballot box," Martin said.

Party grandees were meeting near Washington as the DNC carries out a postmortem of their November loss.

They elevated Martin, formerly the chair of the party's Minnesota branch, to devise their national battle plan.

"This is not a game of chess where everyone is moving their pieces back and forth in a respectful, timed manner. This is guerilla warfare in political form," said Katherine Jeanes, deputy digital director of the North Carolina Democratic Party, ahead of the vote.

Maryland Governor Wes Moore, a rising Democratic star, warned that the party must "not to go into hiding until the next general election."

The moment calls for boldness, added Shasti Conrad, chair of the party's Washington state branch, saying that many Americans have lost the faith.

"They don't trust us to be able to make things better. They don't trust that when we are given power, that we know how to use it," Conrad said.

And the fight starts now, she added -- there can be no waiting until the next presidential election, set for 2028.

- Sports and video games -

Facing a Republican majority in Congress and a second term for Trump, who has roared back into the White House with all the provocative rhetoric of his first administration, Democrats say they must pick their battles.

"We have to be able to decipher crazy rhetoric versus policy violence," said Conrad, and not be like a "dog chasing the car."

While many are "exhausted" after the last election campaign, Jeanes said the party must learn to respond to the frantic pace of shock moves from the Trump administration.

Much of Democratic success going forward will be in how the party presents itself to an American public weary of politics.

That includes engaging with voters "in places that have sometimes been uncomfortable" for Democrats, according to Conrad.

After his victory in November, Trump credited a series of interviews on largely right-wing podcasts, including the popular "Joe Rogan Experience," for aiding his return to the White House.

"We need to be getting on sports podcasts and video games and trying to make sure that we're reaching into apolitical spaces," Jeanes said.

© Agence France-Presse