Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders supporters remain divided over candidates for leadership of the Democratic Party, Politico reports.
Despite Sanders throwing his support behind Clinton in the general election, their backers have yet to settle their differences and move on, to the detriment of the party.
"The old-fashioned way to do this is to purge the party, but that's not the way things work anymore," former chairman of the Democratic National Committee and governor of Vermont Howard Dean told Politico. He declined to run for his former position due to fears of an overly divisive race.
"The party can't win if it's not inclusive, and the way to be inclusive is not to re-litigate the old battle," he added. "And there's obviously some attempt to do that.
"There are some people who are itching to have this fight. I think it's silly, and I think they're going to lose."
Rep. Keith Ellison, D-Minn., has become the preferred choice for Sanders supporters, and quickly made "unity" a significant word in his campaign.
"We need to unify, no matter who we supported in the primary," Ellison said during a Democratic forum to select a new party chair, according to CNN.
His main opponent is former Clinton surrogate, Labor Secretary Tom Perez, who's begun to court the party's more liberal wing.
Ellison, likely attempting to avoid a rehash of Clinton vs. Sanders, began his campaign with announcements of endorsements from not just Sanders fans, but Clinton supporters like Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, and American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten.
He even avoids using the names Clinton and Sanders, preferring instead to reference President Barack Obama, who is almost universally popular among Democrats, or the threat of president-elect Donald Trump.
"This race is about the future of the Democratic Party, how we move forward together to address the existential threats, frankly, that Donald Trump presents to this nation," he told Politico.
"I've worked very closely with everybody in every wing of the party because I've fought a lot of fights side-by-side with them. The big tent of the Democratic Party is our greatest strength."
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