It’s been on my mind for the better part of a year and I finally made my #DemExit last evening after having one last convention officially as a Democrat. I appreciate those of you whom I’ve had conversations with who’ve tried to get me to reconsider, so I feel an explanation is in order.

First, to all of you who I’ve been friends with for a long time who are doing the good work necessary trying to bring change within the Party, I thank you. We share firm convictions on many issues at the forefront of change and the work you do, however futile it may seem sometimes, is necessary if the Party is ever going to change for the greater good. I’ve got your back on those issues and will still stand shoulder to shoulder with you in those fights. This country (and the world) desperately needs change and true allies are worth their weight in gold.

I’ve been politically active for 30 years now, the last 25 of them as a Democrat. I became a Democrat in 1991 when I first started working outside the sheltered confines of the county in which I grew up and was not only exposed to a much wider variety of views but also privy to seeing the conditions others live in day in and day out firsthand. I was drawn to the Party because, at least in the recent past history, they were for the little guy – the working class, the poor, those without a net, those looked down upon in Reagan’s society. They stood for equality and justice and were known to be scrappy fighters for those things. Sure compromises did get made in order to govern, but back in the day, compromise meant that *both* parties gave up things they really wanted in order to get something worthwhile. Now, it seems way more often than not, we capitulate in the name of simply getting anything done. This gives a victory to celebrate, but these victories are hollow in that very little real help is done or the help is heavily qualified.

I was a good foot soldier for a long time, doing GOTV, working for and donating to the Party and specific candidates. Of late, my support has been solely for specific candidates who have verifiable records in words and deeds that are progressive; this will not change at all with my registration.

What I think has happened to the Party is that it has largely lost its soul. I don’t mean everyone in it – as I said before, there are plenty of you still striving for the greater good. It’s the power brokers in the Party and a lot of the electeds, the people with the most control, who have changed its trajectory.

No longer do we fight for the little guy; we’ll throw him a bone once in a while to make sure we keep him happy and voting for us, but we don’t fight for him anymore. We talk a good game but when it’s time for the real fight, we just hear things similar to ‘it will never ever come to pass’ and ‘the GOP won’t let us’ as reasons for not fighting. We’ve stopped fighting the fights that need fighting and now only fight the fights we can win, to bastardize the line from The American President.

Much of the stuff that does get done nowadays benefits the top of the pyramid – those with the money to buy influence. There have been many studies done documenting the reasons for the ever rapidly expanding inequality and the corruption that money brings into our political system, yet all the Party seems to do is talk the talk, but when the pedal meets the metal, nothing gets done, or worse, things that hurt get done.

Right now, we desperately need champions, statesmen and stateswomen. We need to remember our New Deal roots and once again stand up and fight for the little guy. When done correctly, a rising tide does lift all boats; we just haven’t done it correctly in more than half a century. Too much greed, longing for gaining and keeping power, and self interest have corrupted us greatly, and it needs to change. And I aim to continue to be very active in advocating and fighting for that change. I just no longer will do so while remaining on the rolls of a Party where those in charge and with great power see virtue in only trying for incremental change that mostly maintains the status quo. Instead, I will be on the front lines of #OurRevolution .

In Solidarity,

Noelle Seguin (Poligirl)