African-American women are the most loyal constituency of the Democratic Party, and we need to do more to make sure that we engage them, that we don't take them for granted. We need to be there. And again, I keep thinking about that woman I met in Detroit shortly after my election, who said, "You've got to stop showing up every fourth October and telling me that you care."
Thomas PerezOne of the things the Democratic Party is trying to do is take the word off-year out of our lexicon, because we've tended to be an accordion as a party. We expand in the presidentials; we shrink in between; and we scratch our head and wonder why we lose midterms.
Thomas PerezDonald Trump and Eddie Gillespie and the Republicans in the Commonwealth of Virginia are the No. 1 impediment to Medicaid expansion. Voters understand that, and so, when they go to the polls, there's a lot of health care voters in Virginia. There's a lot of health care voters in New Jersey. And when you have a party whose belief is that health care is a privilege for a few, like the Republicans believe, that has consequences.
Thomas PerezWhen you don't have a seat at the table, you're on the menu, my friend Lee Saunders has said, and he is correct.
Thomas PerezEvery Democrat, like every American, should support a woman's right to make her own choices about her body and her health... At a time when women's rights are under assault from the White House, the Republican Congress, and in states across the country, we must speak up for this principle as loudly as ever and with one voice.
Thomas PerezI continue to believe that America is better positioned than any country on the planet to lead in the 21st century, but we do have to be bold. And actually, our platform in the Democratic Party is pretty darn bold, and folks from Senator Sanders' coalition and Secretary Clinton's coalition came together around that platform.
Thomas Perez