“If yer not fer us, yer agin’ us.”
The line sounds like a caricature from an old western, but lately it feels more like a working definition of political life.
Over the past few weeks, I’ve had three reminders of how hard some people find the idea of nonpartisanship. You’ve probably felt this too: say something mild in public, and someone assigns you a team.
At one community event, a Republican activist accused me of “polluting” the Republican Party while I was carrying nonpartisan voter information.
I had been offering people signs that said, “I’m voting in the Primary Election Aug. 18. Will you join me?” I handed them out with no mention of party, candidate or ideology. An officeholder later confronted me as though I’d tried to force partisan propaganda on him.
As best I could tell, the offense wasn’t the sign. The offense was the idea that encouraging you to vote might fall outside the party strategy.
Then Jeff Martin, a Republican legislative candidate, declined to attend a League of Women Voters forum. His reasoning followed the same pattern: the League held policy positions that conflicted with the Wyoming Republican platform, so its values must align with Democrats.
That conclusion depends on a false choice.
If an organization doesn’t agree with Republicans, it must be Democratic. If Democrats share one of its policy positions, the organization must belong to their side. If it lobbies, advocates or challenges legislation, it must be trying to influence elections.
None of those conclusions follow.
Here’s the thing: nonpartisan doesn’t mean without opinions. It doesn’t mean silent. It doesn’t mean an organization has to avoid every issue that divides Republicans and Democrats.
A 501(c)(3) nonprofit faces real limits. It can’t back a candidate or shape its work to help one side beat the other. But it can educate voters, host candidate forums, encourage turnout and speak up on policy.
A Republican platform doesn’t define nonpartisanship. Neither does a Democratic platform.
I work with Civics307, WY Vote and the League of Women Voters on nonpartisan civic education. I follow the rules that come with those roles, and I don’t use them to promote candidates or advance a party.
I also have personal political views. I support candidates and write opinion columns as an individual. That doesn’t erase my rights as a citizen, and it doesn’t turn every organization I work with into a partisan operation.
The responsibility is mine: make clear which role I’m serving at a given time. Yours is no different.
Most people already know how to do this, because politics is only one part of their lives. They’re also parents, neighbors, coaches, veterans and friends, and they move among those roles without assuming each one carries the same partisan label.
The trouble starts when political ideology becomes someone’s whole identity. At that point, every person becomes an ally or an enemy. Every disagreement becomes disloyalty.
Every neutral space becomes suspect.
Some people sincerely can’t see outside the two-party frame. Others see it just fine but ignore the neutral ground anyway, because it helps them to accuse others of disloyalty.
Call a voter guide Democratic often enough, and people stop reading it.
Describe a candidate forum as left-wing, and some voters stay away.
Treat voter registration as suspicious, and participation itself starts to look partisan.
Take one policy position, slap a party label on it, and ignore the organization’s full record.
This approach doesn’t require proof. Repetition replaces evidence.
But here’s what gets lost: people with legitimate concerns grow hesitant to speak. Volunteers step back. You stop trusting information before checking the source. Forums disappear. Public discussion narrows.
That cost belongs to Wyoming, and it belongs to you too.
You don’t have to accept the demand to classify everything as “fer us” or “agin’ us.”
Next time someone hands you that choice, ask a different question: what are they actually doing? Supporting or opposing a candidate? Advancing a party? Or educating voters and encouraging participation?
Judge conduct, not labels.
Disagreement with Republicans doesn’t prove allegiance to Democrats. Disagreement with Democrats doesn’t prove allegiance to Republicans. Policy advocacy isn’t candidate politics. Nonpartisan doesn’t mean opinionless.
When we let partisan activists define every forum, voter guide, policy position and public concern as belonging to one side or the other, we hand them control over who gets heard and trusted.
Wyoming doesn’t get stronger that way. It gets smaller, with fewer places left to ask honest questions or work together without a loyalty test at the door.
So the next time somebody tries to sort you into “fer us” or “agin’ us,” don’t take the bait. Ask what they’re actually doing. Wyoming works better when we do.
Gail Symons can be reached at gailsymons@mac.com
