Amongst many of my friends, I enthusiastically supported Bernie Sanders over Hillary Clinton in a non-binding Democratic primary. Sanders won more votes than she, yet DNCers picked her to run against Donald Trump who, in the Republican primary, won over a mixed bag of candidates. Come the general election, I swallowed my pride and voted for Clinton. She garnered a few million votes more than The Donald, yet lost the election, having come up short in terms of electoral votes.

Hard to believe – Bernie got more votes among Democrats than Hillary in the Democratic primary, Hillary got more votes than Trump in the general election, yet Trump got the presidency.

It’s well past time to write off the DNC and write in a transformative partnership with Progressive Democrats in Congress, including those local Washington State electeds who wish to come along.

It won’t be the first time people like us took the initiative. In 1892, the founding convention of the People’s Party, better known as the Populists, met to demand an end to the unholy alliance between government and wealth. They were angry and their platform, issued deliberately on the fourth of July, pulled no punches. “We meet,” it said, “in the midst of a nation brought to the verge of moral, political, and material ruin. Corruption dominates the ballot box, the state legislatures and the Congress and touches even the bench. . . The fruits of the toil of millions are boldly stolen to build up colossal fortunes for a few.”

Sound familiar?

TODD WEXMAN

Port Townsend