Letter to the Editor: Feeling blue in a red state

Dear Editor,

I’ve been feeling blue. Today I did something that was hard for me. I changed my party affiliation. Now, I’ve lived in Wyoming my whole life. On my eighteenth birthday, I registered to vote. I registered as a Democrat. Being blue in a red state is no easy feat. It has meant keeping my mouth shut with my in-laws to keep the peace. It has meant choosing to nod along and hold my tongue when strangers talk to me, and it has meant keeping a distance from people I care about in political seasons. To be quite honest, it has made me feel blue.

Today I took my children, and I changed my party affiliation. Today, I guess I am red, which still makes me feel blue. I’ve been watching the race between Cheney and Hageman, and it makes me feel blue. However, Cheney has one thing right. Standing for truth, accountability, and the constitution matters. Taking a stance to fight against former President Trump and the insurrectionists that carried out his bidding is important work, and she can’t do it alone. It will take a whole crowd of people committed to honesty (one of the cowboy values, right?) to stand up and do what is right.

If you are feeling blue then I would encourage you to go red, even just for the primary election on August 16th. This primary matters more than any I’ve ever seen for our state. I’ll be clear, this is probably an even more important election than the 2020 presidential election. To fight for our cowboy creed of honesty and integrity, perhaps we should turn red even if it makes us feel blue.

Elizabeth Erickson

Casper

 

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