YOUR AD HERE »

Seeing red in a sea of blue

Kylie Hawes
Kylie Hawes, a senior at Steamboat Srings High School and a Republican, often finds herself alone on the right at school.
John F. Russell

— I never really understood what Sammy Kershaw meant when he sang about not talking about “politics religion or her : because politics can start a fight.” until my sophomore year in high school.

That would be 2004, or perhaps more accurate to this column, the year President Bush was up for re-election against John Kerry.

I am a Republican. Along with our politicians in both congressional houses, I am the minority political viewpoint, but instead of being the minority on Capitol Hill, I am the minority at Steamboat Springs High School. Understandable when you consider the fact that Routt County went democratic in the aforementioned presidential race. Surprising, if you take a 15-minute drive out of Steamboat Springs in any direction. Rural Routt County is home to many ranchers. Call me a profiler, but aren’t ranchers generally Republicans? Yes, but they too are in the minority.



Perhaps, therein lies the true hallmark of American democracy. As Americans, we still have a guaranteed right to free expression of our views and opinions, whether we are in the minority or in the majority.

Don’t worry. I am not here to spell out my political beliefs, even though I have the freedom to do so.



But there have been times in High School where my political views came directly under attack.

It seemed that as soon as I developed my political alignments, I was on the defensive. It was really only that summer (before the presidential election) that I began to care about politics, and that fall I was defending these newfound political opinions and my right to hold and express them.

I was the only one of 10 girls who was a Republican at the table I regularly ate lunch at. As election day came near, the discussion at the table turned to Bush’s job as president. I sat and ate in silence as the talk continued. The second day I requested the discussion refrain from politics. What followed was a rather heated debate – one on nine.

I jabbed back for five minutes before I realized the hypocrite I was making of myself. They had as much of a right to their opinions as I did! This revelation seemed to have less of an impact on the other girls, because the next day at lunch seemed to be much the same. I ate lunch at another table for the rest of the week, but things were able to turn back to normal after the election.

This event really asserted my semi-wavering Republican viewpoints. Looking back, it was rather comical as I am sure our “debate” was far from intellectually based.

Most importantly, I gained a full understanding of true democracy in letting others express their views, even if I had to temporarily suppress mine.

Kylie Hawes is a senior at Steamboat Springs High School.


Support Local Journalism

Support Local Journalism

Readers around Steamboat and Routt County make the Steamboat Pilot & Today’s work possible. Your financial contribution supports our efforts to deliver quality, locally relevant journalism.

Now more than ever, your support is critical to help us keep our community informed about the evolving coronavirus pandemic and the impact it is having locally. Every contribution, however large or small, will make a difference.

Each donation will be used exclusively for the development and creation of increased news coverage.