On December 19th, I felt like the gladiator walking into the lion’s den as we took our seats in the gallery of the Washington State Electoral College in Olympia. Always uber-liberal, the state’s Birkenstock babes and dudes came out in force, to witness the Democratic vote. Protestors rallied and grumbled on the steps to the capitol rotunda in their show of force against Donald Trump.

As a former Democrat I find it glaringly obvious that radical identity politics doesn’t serve most mainstream Americans. The crossing over is unacceptably uncomfortable to those of us who grew up with the message of John F. Kennedy and the common cause of freedom he espoused for all Americans.

Meanwhile, inside the chamber, Secretary of State, Kim Wyman (R) stepped up to the podium, clearly feeling out of her element. Perhaps this was her first Electoral College count or her nervousness was a product of her party affiliation. Launching forward, she introduced the chairman of the electors, Julie Johnson; but as an afterthought, she quickly backed up to lead the chamber in the recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance.  

Johnson again took the podium and requested an elder of the Puyallup tribe give the blessing. It was a wonderful cultural moment when he honored the four directions with a flute melody, blessing the room and the body.

After the final count, eight out of twelve remained true to the Clinton camp, but four of them rammed forward an agenda against the Electoral College. Four ‘faithless electors’ took center stage to cast their votes -- three for Colin Powell, and one for Faith Spotted Eagle, organizer of the Dakota Pipeline protest.

While the votes were counted, spokeswoman Johnson invited each elector to speak about themselves. This was where I found their philosophical makeup to be most interesting. Three electors were Native American. Predictably their views tilted away from the government establishment toward Earth issues and opposing cultural thought. The rest were comprised of young people who felt socially oppressed on some level. A Hispanic woman spoke first and urged citizens to read history and understand how our government really works, implying that improvement was needed. Three electors were African American and spoke on their views of being electors. Next, a person wearing a floral print dress stated he/she represented the transgendered community and joked about how he/she almost missed the vote due to a late train from Seattle. Another young woman with a bald head mentioned that she was a terminal cancer patient, and cited how another stricken friend had spoken with Clinton at length about curing cancer. Her main point was that she felt Trump would not be in favor of curing cancer. An American Muslim woman stood up next to tell how she felt about being an elector and the honor she felt in doing so. Lastly, the cofounder of the ‘Hamilton Electors’ spoke about how he felt the Electoral College was an antiquated concept and hoped to see it abolished before he was called to participate again. 

As social justice warriors, the body of twelve seemed deeply antagonistic toward the concept of being electors at all. In the end, they all agreed that by the 2020 election, it was their sincere hope that the Electoral College would be extinct.

Doing her duty, the Secretary of State is currently conferring with the attorney general to punish the ‘faithless four’ who chose to go against the law of the electoral body. It’s time we stood our ground as ordinary citizens in making sure that the Electoral College survives. In my view, these young people have an incomplete understanding of the system, and fail to see the value in representing the entire United States as a whole. They need to take a step back in history to understand why the Founders designed this unique system truly controlled by ‘We the People’ and not the party who was beaten fair and square. Insular in their views, they demonstrate just how ignorant and self-absorbed our society has become toward the well-being of all Americans.  

I would encourage citizens to contact their state legislators and demand laws be strengthened to prevent faithless electors from overturning the will of the people, and the Electoral College.