Danny Westneat’s critique of Kshama Sawant’s aversion to Hillary Clinton misses the mark [“Sawant’s bad idea ends in win for Trump,” Local News, July 31].
A great many of this nation’s voters are weary of the perennial binary choice for president offered by the two major parties. Republicans make no apologies for their affiliation with opulence, the Pentagon, Wall Street and corporate excess. Democrats have consistently demonstrated their willingness to waltz with this same crowd. The needs of the middle and working classes along with the poor and marginalized are given short shrift.
While I agree with Westneat that Donald Trump would be a disaster, Clinton is a proven advocate for neoliberalism, which has the rich and powerful as a priority. Many good people will feel compelled to vote for the lesser of two evils — in this case, Clinton. But it cannot be denied that the U.S. is in need of a constructive remake.
This country must be re-imagined in such a way that all members of this beleaguered republic have a place in our polity. Seeds of positive change may be present in the legions who gave their support to Bernie Sanders.
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Such a transformative movement, like the civil-rights movement, must be politically astute and sustained for a long campaign that will enkindle a collective spirit of fairness, inclusion and genuine economic democracy. Absent such a movement, this country’s troubles will surely deepen.
Joe Martin, Seattle