Here's a word of advice for all those who supported Sen. Bernie Sanders during the primary season:
I was in Chicago during the 1968 Democratic National Convention as state treasurer of Sen. Eugene McCarthy's Maryland campaign. It was an experience of a lifetime, but not a pleasant one.
Our people were tear-gassed, beaten and arrested. Our delegates were ignored and treated rudely. We didn't get any of the recognition or respect that the Sanders people got from the DNC in Philadelphia this year.
Back then, delegates to the convention were picked by the state central committees, not by voters as is done today. Voting for convention delegates came about only later as a result of the McGovern Commission reforms.
When I returned to Baltimore I swore I would neither work for nor vote for Hubert Humphrey. I eventually decided to vote for Humphrey, but like many other McCarthy supporters I didn't work for him. And as a result, we ended up with Richard Nixon as president.
The stakes are too high today for us to repeat that kind of performance. I was a Sanders supporter, but we all need to get behind Hillary Clinton as our nominee.
Larry Kamanitz, Baltimore