My Ballot is Not a Team Flag

Guest Opinion by Lisa Ward

I used to say I would vote blue no matter who. I wore it like a badge of honor. It sounded principled. It felt loyal. It felt like standing for something.

But I have come to understand that loyalty without discernment is not virtue. It is surrender dressed up as conviction.

Somewhere along the way, an assumption took root that my vote was guaranteed, that because blue is my color, it belongs automatically to anyone who wraps themselves in it. 

There is a quiet entitlement in that thinking. As if a shade alone should command trust. As if shared branding replaces shared values.

Blue is still my favorite color. I was shaped by a working class world of blue collar struggles, where hands were worn, backs were bent, and family was not a slogan but a promise. 

I was raised to believe that your word meant something. 

That transparency mattered. 

That leadership required humility. Those lessons did not come from politics. They came from life.

For a long time, blue felt aligned with that spirit. It felt like advocacy for everyday people. It felt like integrity. But over time I began to look at the blue banner and feel a quiet unease. 

The color was the same, yet the character seemed different. Familiar slogans. Unfamiliar priorities. 

And when you no longer recognize the values reflected back at you, you have to pause.

Voting straight ticket without question is like handing someone the keys to your home because they are wearing your favorite color. 

You assume safety because it feels familiar. But familiarity is not proof of character.

My heart has been broken, but it is not shattered. Not yet. 

Disappointment does not equal destruction. It is simply the moment when illusion falls away and clarity steps in. I am not angry. I am aware.

We know when it is time. There is a quiet reckoning that happens within us when loyalty and conscience stand face to face. 

Growth is not betrayal. It is maturity. It is the willingness to say that my values are bigger than any party, any platform, any color.

I have not abandoned what shaped me. I carry it with me. 

The blue collar grit. The belief in fairness. 

The insistence on honesty. Those things remain. But my vote is not owed to anyone because of branding or nostalgia.

My ballot is not a team flag. It is a measure of trust. And trust must be earned, not assumed.

It can take months to earn trust, and minutes to lose it.  I’ve lost a lot of it.

Lisa Ward is a former Democratic nominee for the Alabama State Senate, a political leader and advocate with more than three decades of experience advancing justice, equity, and community empowerment. She is known for grassroots organizing and coalition-building across the State, and is committed to policy solutions that uplift marginalized communities and strengthen democracy. She currently serves as a senior advisor to the Will Boyd for Alabama campaign.

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