<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;" align="center">A group of Democratic Party activists are on a mission to lobby for Rep. Keith Ellison as chairman of the Democratic National Committee. But their enthusiasm has become a thorn in the DNC side, as they are being pestered with excessive phone calls.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">&ldquo;It was over the top, and I contacted ;Keith, and ;Keith ;tried to stop it, to his credit. It took a while,&rdquo; said Marcel L. Groen, chairman of the Pennsylvania Democrats. &ldquo;I want their enthusiasm and energy, but I do want it harnessed. I am not interested in anarchy.&rdquo;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Groen admitted that this has influenced him to show support for another in the running Tom Perez, Obama&rsquo;s former labor secretary, instead.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">&ldquo;Let&rsquo;s say you were completely uncommitted,&rdquo; said Groen. &ldquo;You don&rsquo;t want 300 people calling you and telling you what to do.&rdquo; ;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Perez claimed to have the support of 180 DNC members so far. He will need 224 to win.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">It looks as though, Perez and Ellison are the two front runners. But, it has gotten heated between the two. Ellison suggested that Perez&rsquo;s claim about the number of DNC supporters he has is bogus.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Some of Ellison&rsquo;s following are made up of the same progressives who lobbied forcefully against Hillary Clinton&rsquo;s campaign. This was after former chairwomen Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz was exposed of attempting to diminish Bernie Sanders&rsquo; chance at the nomination.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">&ldquo;Now many of the same progressives are backing ;Mr. Ellison ;in the chairman&rsquo;s race, including #Bernie2020, and they&rsquo;ve circulated the names, email addresses and phone numbers of ;DNC ;members, and urged activists to tell them to elect ;Mr. Ellison,&rdquo; writes <em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Washington Times.</em></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">It looks as though Ellison&rsquo;s supporters have been dwelling on the past.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t think a person has approached me who was a super pro-Hillary person who said you would have to vote for ;Tom,&rdquo; said David O&rsquo;Brien, a DNC member. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> ;</span>&ldquo;On the flip side, a whole lot of people have approached me who said Bernie was wronged; ;Keith ;was abused in the press. Help us out here.&rdquo;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">O&rsquo;Brien argues that just because Schultz has proven to be corrupt, this doesn&rsquo;t mean the whole DNC is.  ;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">&ldquo;Debbie was wrong, and Debbie deserved to go, but don&rsquo;t get mad at anybody with a ;DNC ;title next to them,&rdquo; said O&rsquo;Brien. &ldquo;I felt wronged too.&rdquo; ;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Pro-Ellison&rsquo;s activists are channeling their anger for the DNC with rowdy tactics. They even crashed the Woman&rsquo;s National Democratic Club forum Wednesday, where Perez was interrupted with messages like &ldquo;DEMS: #RESIST TRUMP OR BE REPLACED.&rdquo;</p>
<p>Ellison, who has ;alleged ties to Louis Farrakhan&rsquo;s Nation of Islam, ;has other political leaders backing him, including Bernie Sanders and Chuck Schumer.  ;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">New Hampshire Democratic State Party Chairman Ray Buckley announced he would be pulling out of the race Saturday and then endorsed Ellison.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">&#8220;From the moment I stepped into this race, I made it clear that the top two priorities of the next DNC chair must be to strengthen state parties and reform the DNC,&#8221; said Buckley in a statement. &#8220;Now, many candidates have spoken about these issues, but Keith&#8217;s commitment to the states and a transparent and accountable DNC has stood out.&#8221;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">This means it&rsquo;s really between Perez and Ellison. Perez also has the support of former Vice President Joe Biden and four other governors.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><em>CNN</em> will be a hosting a debate featuring several of the candidates Wednesday and the DNC leadership election is on February 25.</p>
<p> ;</p>