Don’t Pick On The Little Party

Bill Barnett’s letter (“Nader Blame,” 7/5) shows why it’s questionable that the Democratic Party will save us from a Trump re-election in 2020. Continuing to blame minor parties for the inability of the DNC’s national convention to pick a winning candidate belies a huge blind spot to the self-defeating actions for
which the Dems have become notorious.

If the DNC continues to cling to their old-guard, corporate-Dem leadership, what will be different in 2020? They need to let the millennials into leadership. This newer generation is showing moxy and winnability in elections; they push a progressive platform; they are the upcoming big voting bloc. Will the DNC listen, or continue shooting itself in the (left) foot?

Of course it’s the all-or-nothing nature of the defacto two-party system that’s really to blame. The one thing Dems and Reps have always agreed on is maintaining their Republicrat monopoly of our democracy. Adopting a proportional representation electoral system would lead to multi-party democracy; more voter choice; no vote splitting or spoiling. The need for this is exactly what the 2016 election demonstrated.

James Stauffer

 Eugene