September 23, 2017 05:42 PM UTC

No Nibiru, just rural Democrats causing trouble.

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• by: kwtree

(Promoted by Colorado Pols)

So the world didn’t end today (yet). I  bet a 6th grader a chocolate bar that we’d still have class Monday.  His older brother had told him for sure that September 23 was it. Young students are all on Facebook, gobbling up and sharing every bit of fake news and conspiracy theory out there.

The eclipse, the hurricanes, and the earthquakes proved that doomsday was at hand.

My more sciencey students rushed to debunk this: “If there was a planet about to hit the earth, we would have seen it coming! Planets don’t just jump out of their orbits and go wherever they want! NASA says it’s not true. ”

I love that they’re paying attention in science class, and using evidence-based arguments.

But, no Nibiru in sight. Just another day, living the dream in northeast Colorado. Something else surprising is happening, though….Democrats are organizing in Northeast Colorado, and in rural counties all over the state.

At Octoberfest, it was chilly and drizzly. Felt like fall.  The Morgan County Democrats were boothed next to the American Legion, so we had lots of opportunities to chat while we waited for people to stop by.

I quickly found that we could talk about anything as long as I didn’t directly criticize the President. They could criticize him, though, and did. “Needs to take a Speech 101 class,” said a spry old gentleman who later showed off his world-class polka moves. “He’s embarrassing us with all the tweeting,” confided a lifelong Republican.

Democrats were zeroing in on us, too. “You have a booth? Here? How many Democrats are in Morgan County?” Turns out, about 3,000 registered Dems to about 6,000 registered Republicans, with ~4,500 unaffiliated. Dems have kept rather quiet until now, what with that 2:1 disadvantage.

But those days are gone. Dems had big, loud, crowded floats in all of the recent town parades.

With Logan County Dems, Washington County Dems, and Yuma Indivisible, we have scheduled upcoming Q&A forums for Democratic candidates for CD4, Attorney General, Secretary of State, Treasurer, and Governor. We’re planning on having forums for all the candidates for these offices in the general election, as well.

What I hear when I talk with my Republican neighbors in CD4: Many Republicans are frankly divided and disheartened, embarrassed, even sickened by the behavior of the leaders of their party. They’re tired of defending the indefensible. They still feel obligated to defend Trump when he’s attacked, because he is their elected leader.

On the other hand, those who wanted to secede from Colorado in 2013 probably still want that, even in the face of resounding electoral defeat. They’ve become entrenched in their positions, isolated from conflicting opinions, and emboldened to be openly racist.

Rural Democrats are showing that there are alternatives. There are people advocating for policies that will keep small towns alive and young people well-educated. We can keep our hospitals open. We don’t have to disown our gay kids, nor hate on our Latino and Muslim neighbors. We’re showing that we don’t have to use up all of the fossil fuels and clean water in order to have a prosperous economy.

At the local level, in small towns and red counties, people on the ground are registering voters and going to town halls and sponsoring forums and getting their neighbors out to vote. That may not be Nibiru-level earth-shattering news, but in  rural counties of Colorado, it is a small miracle.