We all are looking for leaders who will follow through with their promises.

Ok, so tonight I had a conversation with one of my "Uber-Volunteers" - this woman is amazing and is doing an incredible job while putting my "Emily for Utah Senate" 4th of July parade entry together. I won't fill you in on the details, because it is going to be an amazing thing. That post will come later.

So this wonderful woman has been rallying the support of all kinds of people - many of them are friends and acquaintances of mine through my web site design business. Others know me from church. Others don't know me at all but are willing to step out and support me anyway. She is putting an amazing group of people together, which I love and appreciate, and it will make all the difference in the world.

However, a few of the people she has contacted have responded very strangely to her request to help me. It is always "Well, I am a REPUBLICAN!" and when she presses further and asks if they would consider helping me anyway, she is met with difficult resistance. I am finding this hard to take. Especially when the "resistor" is someone who I know, someone I have worked with, or have even done church work with. Are they really THAT worried about supporting a democrat? What do they think will happen to them if they step out and show support? It is not like they don't know me, and have to "get to know me" and what I stand for. And the big question, the one that is pressing on my mind and giving me a headache is ... what do they think I will do in the Utah Senate that they will not agree with?

Anyone who knows me will recognize right off the bat that I take these things far too personally. I need to grow thicker skin, this is certain. But of all the people in this big vast Senate district, I suppose I expect more out of the people who know me, who have had conversations with me, who have been there when I've taught church lessons or conducted my ward and stake choirs, who have taught my children in primary and Sunday school, who have worked with me on church committees, who have hired me for website projects, who have always felt good about the things that I've done for them. When I hear the "humming and hawing" because I am a Democrat, it does more than make my head hurt... it makes my pride hurt, and gives me reason to stop and wonder what on earth I am doing this for.

But here is the thing. Many weeks ago I came to grips with the fact that if elected to the Utah Senate, I will be representing *all* of the people in this District. Registered Democrats only take up a very small part of this population. The other 90 percent are registered republicans and unafilliated voters. As a senator, I would represent *all* of them. Anybody who thinks I would go to the Utah Senate to only promote what the democrats want neither know me or understand what I really am all about.

I suppose I am writing this entry to ask people to investigate just a little bit deeper. I encourage them to email me or call me if they have any question whatsoever about how I would represent them in the Utah Senate. I ask those who have dug their heels in as "staunch republicans" to try to step back a little bit and ask them to try to feel better about the possibility of supporting me.

I do not believe this is a losing battle. I know that I have the ability to do this job. I don't think it matters what political party a person comes from, or what their background is. The truth of it is that we are all are looking for leaders who will follow through with their promises and who will make good, common-sense decisions for Utah. Republican or Democrat does not matter, because a good idea is a good idea. I pledge to *always* support the good ideas.

I am for ALL Utah families, not just the democratic families or the republican families. I believe in *all* of Utah's citizens, not just those who agree with me 100% on every issue. I plan to talk to thousands of people in the coming months, and to help them understand why voting for Emily for Utah Senate would be a good thing. I will promise them that voting for a Democrat, and even publically supporting a Democrat will not hurt one bit. I have been voting for both Democrats and Republicans for years - and I have even lived to tell about it. ;-)

After all, this is about PEOPLE, not POLITICS. Representing the people of District 28 will require that I understand what the people want, not what some political party or politician tells me that I should do. I promise to live by this creed and to always do the right thing.