On April 21, a small group of activists from the Seattle-based group, The Impossible is Possible Movement, went to the office of U.S. Rep. Jim McDermott (Dem.) to ask him to explain why, as a superdelegate, he was pledging his vote to Hillary Clinton instead of supporting the expressed majority pro-Bernie Sanders sentiment Democrats in his state and district. McDermott, a well-known liberal member of Congress, did not speak to the group, and his staff called the police, resulting in the arrest of Dinea Evans, a delegate for Sanders to the Legislative District Caucus. Liberation News reached out to Evans and Wesley Irwin, co-founders of Impossible is Possible, and conducted an interview on April 30.
Getting to know them a little better, it turns out Irwin has been involved in political activism for many years, having served as a Democratic Party precinct captain for 12 years and was one of the chairs of ESP (Educators, Students, Parents) Vision, a group that opposed the closure of five public schools in Seattle in 2009. He worked on both of Socialist Alternative member Kshama Sawant’s City Council election campaigns, and also was part of the Fight for $15 movement. He is currently running as a “Berniecrat” for State Representative in the 32nd District (visit his campaign site here), and is a full-time field organizer for Sanders, working to flip superdelegates in Washington state. Evans on the other hand, first got involved in activism on March 5 of this year. “So this is very new to me, not even a full two months. The Bernie campaign is what is fueling my enthusiasm for fighting the good fight.”
I asked Evans what motivated her to do the action at McDermott’s office. “The motivation started with the the Bernie Sanders movement. I felt the need to do more, when it comes to my government. I realize now that something is flawed in the democratic process, and I feel that the time is now for the political revolution. To me that means that all of us people need to be united and stand up for our rights, and we have the right to assembly and question our government and by doing so we can take back our democracy.”
Evans continued to explain that her other motivation was seeing how close Sanders is in the polls to Clinton. “It’s upsetting to me that these superdelegates pledged their votes before Bernie had even announced his candidacy, and the possibility that they can swing the election doesn’t seem fair. But even more so, it doesn’t seem right or democratic that the elected officials, the superdelegates, can vote against the majority of the state, and Washington state [voted for Sanders] by 73 percent. Doesn’t democracy matter? ”
Speaking of McDermott, Evans added, “He’s been in office for 15 years or so, he’s not up for re-election, he’s been very progressive in his votes, so leaving office, I don’t see what he’s got to gain by not voting with the majority of our state. It’s very confusing to us, and to not even a release a statement to explain where he’s coming from on that, also doesn’t seem very democratic to us.”
What was Evans thinking while the photograph of her in handcuffs was taken on April 21? “I was so proud that my friends and my constituents and the people of the nation were going to witness civil disobedience, they were going to witness people standing up for their rights with no trace of violence, and it’s something that needed to be seen, because I believe that is what this movement is about. I was just very proud at that moment.”
Was she scared when she was arrested? Evans replied with conviction: “Absolutely not. I made a conscious decision and decided, now is the time. Now is the time, to show people that it might take, what’s the word, it might take a small movement to create a bigger movement.”
Liberation asked what is next for the Impossible is Possible Movement. Irwin said, “We’ve been talking about this since Dinea’s arrest. We have a GoFundMe site for Dinea’s legal expenses. Also, we have been given the opportunity to be delegates for Bernie Sanders at the Congressional level, and we have the chance to become national delegates in three weeks. We want to keep the pressure up on the superdelegates here in Washington, but it’s also important to us that we get inside the convention so we can organize Hillary delegates and flip Hillary delegates at the convention the way we are organizing to flip superdelegates here in Washington.”
Irwin explained that they have experienced an outpouring of support since the arrest and have raised about half of their goal in terms of funding activities and getting to the convention. “We need more supporters to do what we are doing, because there are what, nine members of the house, two members of the house and a governor, none of which are honoring the fact that Bernie Sanders won 73 percent of the vote in Washington, and each of whose vote is worth 1o,ooo normal votes, so it’s such a broken, unjust system when it comes to the democratic process, and really makes you wonder why the Democratic Party has this in place when the Republican Party doesn’t use it at all!” In fact, Irwin pointed out that the Republican superdelegates are mandated to cast their vote in accordance with the popular vote. Laughing, we concluded that the Republicans are more democratic than the Democrats.
Going beyond the convention, what will they do if Sanders does not attain the nomination? What does the “Bern ’til November” button on her jacket mean to Dinea Evans? 
Evans elaborated, “Just to keep fighting the fight, just to keep going. We’re not going to give up on this fight because there is so much more that we can do. I think it’s amazing to see the young people and how they are so involved. At my [Legislative District] caucus alone there were 1,200 people and the majority of those people, it was their first time being at a caucus…I think this election has sparked a new generation of political awareness in the youth, and the youth is our future. As long as we can continue to be involved with politics, talking about politics, talking about democracy, then we can in the future possibly have a democratic nation, a real democracy. That is something beyond Bernie Sanders, but he has sparked a revolution in our republic.”
Going on, Evans said, “This will grow like a fire, we are on the right path to taking down corporate America, and the superPACs, and maybe even overturning Citizen’s United, if it doesn’t happen this round, then maybe in eight or 12 years. But I believe that this is what the political revolution is about, with or without Sanders being in office. One thing that I hope for, and this might be far-fetched, but if Bernie does not get the nomination, I would love to see him lead a two million or three million man march, and go back to those civil rights movements, and having the people stand up for what they believe in and social justice.”
Irwin emphasized that he would encourage Sanders to run as an independent if he were not to get the Democratic Party nomination. “I think that’s entirely fair because of the way the DNC [Democratic National Committee] has treated his campaign, whether it was limiting the debates, or temporarily blocking access to voter registrations which ended up in a lawsuit that he just dropped yesterday, and you look at what they are doing to candidates who are Bernie progressives, blocking their access…the list goes on and on. It is obvious that the DNC is not interested in building the party with young progressive independent minded people.” Irwin hopes for the formation of a new party, the Progressive Party of America, that could beat both Trump and Clinton in a three-way race, because independents, being 42 percent of registered voters, are the largest single group of voters in the U.S.
He continued: “No matter what happens between now and November, there’s going to be a fight coming out of this election cycle that has to be maintained on the issue of the Voting Rights Act and the Supreme Court’s overturning of vital parts of the 1965 Voting Rights Act. We see how bad that decision by the Supreme Court was when we look at cases like Florida and we look at cases like Arizona and Rhode Island, where huge numbers of polling places were closed to quote unquote save money, and really what they are doing is suppressing the vote and disenfranchising voters.” Irwin also expressed grave concern about the possibility of vote tampering, particularly with Diebold voting machines.
Liberation asked the two activists how they will vote in the event that Sanders does not get the nomination and does not run as an independent.
Evans said, “At this point in time, I am planning on writing in Bernie Sanders. I cannot support Hillary Clinton, understanding she is a Republican in my eyes…I mean understanding a Democrat…(Irwin: She really is a Republican)… I can’t get behind that, I just don’t trust her.”
Continuing, Evans said, “I’d rather see a bigger movement result from that, where people protesting and marching and creating a true revolution in this country and thing about it is that everyone around the world is watching to see what we are going to do with this election…Burning the house down doesn’t sound like such a bad idea to me.”
Liberation asked, “Is that ‘burning’ with a ‘u’ or an ‘e?'”
Evans replied, “That is with an ‘e.’ I am down for a political revolution.”
About his vote, Irwin concluded that he is still focused on getting Sanders to the White House, saying, “For me I’m going to cross that bridge when I get there but Clinton will never get my vote.”
