Did the 4th of July make you realize that your neighbor is a Democrat?
It’s a funny thing to watch people wrestle with that realization, followed by the inevitable rationalization: “Well, they’re okay—they’re a Democrat, not a liberal,” or some other qualifier meant to soften the blow. It’s as if being kind, involved, or community-minded can only be accepted if it fits within a pre-approved partisan lens. This kind of thinking is tearing apart the very fabric that once made Idaho Falls a great place to raise a family.
I’m a Democrat in Idaho Falls. I’m also a parent, a neighbor, a volunteer, and someone who waves the flag just as proudly on the 4th of July as anyone else on my block. But somewhere along the way, the idea of being on “the other team” has made people more suspicious than curious, more dismissive than engaged. We’ve reduced our political identities into rival jerseys and allowed national narratives to replace local values. There was a time when ball caps only had sports teams on them.
We’ve become so obsessed with identifying political affiliation that we’ve forgotten how much we actually have in common. The person helping set up folding chairs for the parade, the family handing out popsicles at the park, the couple organizing the food drive—some of them are Democrats. Some are Republicans. Most are simply your neighbors. But too many of us now look through the filter of suspicion, as if we’re rooting against people rather than rooting for our community.
The shift from supporting families to only supporting families like mine is where this really becomes dangerous. We used to rally together for the schools, for the youth sports leagues, for the bake sales and barbecues that funded community projects. Now, if the person leading the charge doesn’t pass a political litmus test, there’s hesitation, even resistance. That’s not community. That’s exclusion.
Our patriotism should be grounded in shared values, not party loyalty. Freedom, opportunity, safety, kindness—these are not red or blue ideals. These are American ideals. And they flourish when we work together, not when we treat every difference as a threat. We must join together to restore our rights and freedoms.
If you found yourself surprised this Independence Day to learn that the person who helped organize the high school charity or volunteered for the firework cleanup was a Democrat, consider this: they’ve likely been contributing for years. It wasn’t about politics then, and it shouldn’t be now.
We can disagree on policy and still share a porch, a school district, a Saturday at the farmer’s market. The health of Idaho Falls depends not on which team wins, but on whether we remember we are one community. It’s time to stop playing team sports with our politics—and start showing up for each other, regardless of the jersey.
Our patriotism brought us together in the past, and that common ground has never changed. The fight for freedom is the starting point for each of us.
Dan Barker, Master of Human Resource Management, is a leadership consultant and the chair of the Bonneville County Democratic Central Committee.