As I left the play “Hamilton” at the Eccles several weeks ago, Donald Webber Jr.’s remarkable rendition of “The Room Where It Happens” left me not only dazzled but also deeply invigorated. The following section has been on an unending loop in my psyche for the last three weeks:
When you got skin in the game, you stay in the game
But you don’t get a win unless you play in the game
Oh, you get love for it
You get hate for it
But you get nothing if you
Wait for it, wait for it, wait.
As Utah’s U.S. Senate race approaches, Utahns have a rare opportunity to make a massive shift in how our state is represented on a national level. After almost 12 years of misrepresenting our state and its interests, ranging from failing to support the extension of the Violence Against Women Act to supporting Donald Trump’s attempts to overturn a free and legitimate election to going back on his former promise of only serving two terms, Mike Lee is up for re-election. Now is the time to stop waiting and to start acting.
Republican primaries in Utah are closed, making registration as a Republican a prerequisite to participation. And while it may feel truly distasteful, disloyal and even morally wrong to many who are registered as unaffiliated, independent or Democratic voters, the best way for us to get into “the room where it happens” is to register as Republican before March 31 and to petition for Becky Edwards to qualify for the Republican primary on June 28.
Having leaned left throughout my life, I personally feel uncomfortable being officially affiliated with a party that does not align with my political value system. I am particularly repulsed by the prospect of being a member of a party that has embraced far-right conspiracy, authoritarian leadership and that recently described the January 6 insurrection as “legitimate political discourse.”
But, as Lin-Manuel Miranda writes, political strategy sometimes requires us to “hold your nose and close your eyes.” And in this case, we do so not only for our own interests but for the survival of our modern democracy.
Luckily for us, while becoming affiliated with the GOP may require the use of clothespins, our choices once registered abound. We can petition for incredible women like Becky Edwards to be included on the ballot. We can become delegates. We can vote in the Republican primary.
Registering as Republicans does not disallow us from supporting Democrat Kael Weston or independent Evan McMullin in November, but it does offer us each greater power to participate now. In fact, Weston has recently tweeted that the best-case scenario for Utah voters would be a three-way race between himself, Edwards and McMullin. But Edwards will not be a contender in that Senate race if she does not win the Republican primary, and she will not win the Republican primary if she is not on the ballot.
As Utahns and as Americans, we all have skin in the game. We can no longer wait for change. We need to take our place in the spaces where things are happening, we need to make our voices heard, and we need to support individuals who will represent Utah and its interests with integrity, nuance, thoughtfulness, and cooperation. Registering as Republicans offers us the power and opportunity to create the change that we otherwise will not see. It offers us a seat at the table.
“You get nothing if you wait for it.”
Register Republican. Sign the petition for Becky Edwards. Vote out Mike Lee.
Rhiannon McDaniel
Rhiannon McDaniel is a Salt Lake City mother of two.
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