Opinion: Tom Steyer’s impeachment petition is exactly what the timid Democratic Party needs

To the editor: By criticizing Tom Steyer’s campaign to get more voters and lawmakers to support impeaching President Trump, Doyle McManus champions the Democrats’ decades-long error of assuming the next election will fix everything on its own. (“Tom Steyer’s impeachment petition will only make it harder to get rid of Trump,” Opinion, Nov. 12)

Democrats keep insisting that the Republican Party will self-destruct, but that never really happens. Now, we have complete control of the federal government by Republicans and GOP control of most state legislatures.

McManus counsels not rocking the boat and just waiting for the next election. A large portion of the population, amazingly, believes that the Republican Party is the one on the side of the working class. We need to rock the boat to change this.

The way of the Democrats has not done any good for the last 35 years.

Harlan Levinson, Los Angeles

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To the editor: People forget that 26 months passed between the Watergate break-in and President Nixon’s resignation in 1974. We have just begun the process of uncovering the truth about Russian interference in the last presidential election.

To me, Steyer and his $20-million ad campaign are a distraction and a way for him to attract attention to himself for a possible Senate run.

Either way, that $20 million would have accomplished more if it were spent on, say, solving the homelessness problem in California.

Michael Hoevel, Oxnard

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To the editor: While Steyer and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-San Francisco) have different methods, I think their goals are similar.

Pelosi has to work within the rules of Congress. Steyer is much more free. Both, however, act toward the same end: to build the Democrats into a major force to push back against the Republican far right and the oligarchy of the 1%.

We are already seeing some positive results in recent elections in Virginia and New Jersey, and we shall see how this turns out in the midterms next year.

Dave Newman, Brea

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