Dear John,

This is a sad and chaotic time in America, and we are challenged to change. From mass shootings to environmental damage to attacks on our reproductive rights, things are not working. We are faced with the knowledge that in many ways our system has failed us.

Nothing will seriously change if we continue to elect the same people who led us into this mess, in the hopes they can lead us out of it.

Nancy Pelosi has served in the House of Representatives since 1987; she has been Speaker of the House for a total of seven of those years. Even if I did not object to her support for a Congressional candidate who has an NRA A rating and is the sole pro-choice Democrat in the House, and even if I did not object to her support for stock trading by members of Congress; even if I did not object to her support for endless defense spending and oil drilling and subsidizing Big Oil – I would still be hoping for a new era of leadership in America.

No one who has served in the halls of power for almost 35 years then has the consciousness or temperament to oppose that system; at this point they have become the system.

That is why I support Shahid Buttar in his primary bid to replace her as the Democratic candidate for Congress in California's 11th congressional district. Nancy Pelosi’s leadership is a perpetuation of what has become a corrupt system in Washington, and we will not drive the car out of the ditch by looking to the same people who drove us into it.

Shahid’s background as a lawyer, non-profit leader and peace activist has made him a strong voice for change. This isn’t an election about personalities; it’s an election about policies. I am longing to see new faces, new voices, and new policies in Washington. We can turn what has become a government “of the corporations, by the corporations and for the corporations” back into a government that at least tries to be “of the people, by the people and for the people.” It is up to us to make the change, to end the season of our political despair.

Buttar’s campaign is a powerful challenge to the status quo, and by voting for him you are joining a passionate wave of change. Please support the candidate who interrupts the trajectory of political dysfunction that has gripped our nation.

It’s time for change.

All my best,
Marianne