November 14, 2016 11:33 AM UTC

I’ve Had Enough of the Colorado Democratic Party

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• by: madmike

(Promoted by Colorado Pols)

Last Wednesday I changed my party affiliation from Democrat to Unaffiliated.  I did my best to stick with them in spite of my many misgivings about the positions that our state Democratic leaders staked out on a number of issues.  A few years ago I circulated an online petition which gathered over 5000 signatures asking Gov. Hickenlooper to intervene in the dispute between the Douglas County Board of Education and the Douglas County Federation of Teachers.  And in spite of the fact that all I got for that effort was the sound of crickets, I stayed with the Colorado Democrats.  For more than a year I made calls and wrote letters to Sen. Michael Bennet pleading with him to oppose the construction of the Keystone XL pipeline.  He not only voted for it, he had the nerve to vote to override President Obama’s veto of that bill.  But I stayed with the Colorado Democrats.  I also wrote and called Senator Bennet’s office asking that he publicly state his opposition to a lameduck vote on the Trans Pacific Partnership.  I got no response whatsoever.  But I stayed with the Colorado Democrats.  This spring I attended my local Democratic caucus and proudly gave my support to Senator Bernie Sanders’ candidacy for President.  And I was elated when he won our state by a hefty margin.  Then the Colorado Democratic Party threw its support behind Hillary Clinton.  I was angry with what they did, but did my part by voting for Secretary Clinton.

Then last Tuesday happened and I finally had enough.  I’m tired of the elitist, centrist, corporate-friendly, anti-labor arrogance of people like Michael Bennet, John Hickenlooper, Rick Palacio and others who look down their noses at people like me, people who have gone along with their schtick, telling myself that it’s better to let them have my vote than letting the other side win.

Not anymore.  I’ve also had enough with this website and the people who run it.  If you see your mission as one of propping up the positions of the people I’ve mentioned here, I guess you should feel good about yourselves.  But if you measure your success by how much you move the needle in favor of progressive ideas and values, you have certainly fallen short.

There is a lot of talk in the media right now about an effort being formulated to redefine and remake the Democratic Party.  Part of that effort could involve finding state party leaders who are more in tune with the plight of average Americans rather than with Wall Street, big banks, big agriculture, pharmaceutical and insurance companies, and the rest of corporate America.  I hope that movement happens and that it happens very soon.  The 2018 congressional election is right around the corner.  In the meantime, I will remain unaffiliated.  That is, unless the Colorado Democratic Party changes its tune or until something better comes along.