Distress Signal

Open letter to the Democratic Party

Attention: Tom Perez, Keith Ellison, Chuck Schumer, Nancy Pelosi, Cory Booker, Kamala Harris, Elizabeth Warren, Bernie Sanders and other potential candidates in 2018 and 2020.

From Geoff O’Keeffe, Citizen,

Colorado Congressional 2^nd District.

26 October, 2017

Tom Perez and Democratic Party leaders,

In full disclosure, I have been registered as a Democrat for many years, though I do not consider myself a Democrat. I’ve done it to be able to participate in primaries and caucuses. My politics are well left of yours. I have never once voted for a Republican nor will I ever.

I have voted for third party candidates numerous times since I could first vote in 1972, while voting for Democratic candidates otherwise. Rarely have I been satisfied when a Democratic choice of mine won. Usually my feeling has been, “Well, at least we stopped THAT from happening.” After posting self-righteous votes for democratic socialists and other independent candidates early on, I learned that gaining something was better than losing it all but feeling ideologically pure.

The only currently active third party with any momentum whatsoever is the Green Party, but they have no viable national strategy nor an organization capable of taking any control. While I align with pretty much every one of their positions, their approach to national politics falls more into the “tantrum” category than shrewd strategy.

So that leaves you guys. God help us.

Please do not send me one more solicitation for “Just Five Dollars To Help Us Win In Alabama.” You will not like what I mail back to you.

Tom, is this what your job is supposed to be? Shilling for five bucks a pop? Or perhaps you should be crafting a national strategy to help take our country out of the grip of authoritarian, racist, corporatist theocrats? Just a thought. Something for you to ponder.

Not a single dime will come from me until you can articulate what the Democratic Party stands for, line-by-line, and what your strategy is to win. I want to know about healthcare, protecting the environment, police violence, prison reform, income inequality, racism, gerrymandering, Citizen’s United, securing women’s rights to their own health care, financial industry malfeasance, guys like Weinstein, O’Reilly and trump walking around as free men, actual tax reform, minimum wages, education and so much more. You have an opponent in the republicans whose agenda has been laid bare: Feather the nests of the plutocrats and the hell with anything else. You being the party of FDR and JFK and Barack Obama surely ought to be able to compete with that mess. These guys are shooting at one another. How hard can this be?

If you fail to recognize and incorporate the groundswell insurgency Bernie Sanders brought us last year and the appeal of his positions (whether or not he fronts those positions next time) you will have missed your only opportunity to win and you will be relegated to the compost bin of US political history.

So, Tom, tell me, what do you guys plan to do about this American nightmare we are enduring? Please tell me you have a plan. Midterms are a year away. Time’s a wastin’.

This is not a political game. This shit is real. If you are not up to the task, pass the job on to someone who is. Maybe I can suggest Caroline Kennedy, Julián Castro, Tulsi Gabbard, Stacey Abrams, Pete Buttigieg, Eric Garcetti, Andrew Gillam, Hakeem Jeffries, Joe Kennedy III, Gina Raimondo and others.

But this will require you let go of your old tired ways. Are you up for it, Tom?

Don’t make me move to Ecuador.

Urgently,

Geoff O’Keeffe