Rhetoric vs. Reality: On Changing Your Mind and Living Your Values

Note: Lindsay Winslow Brown's essay below was originally published in the Fort Wayne Journal Gazette in April 24, 2025. It has been reprinted here with her permission.

For most of my life, I identified with — and actively participated in — the Republican Party. I grew up in a deeply evangelical household where conservative pastors and talk radio hosts dominated my daily life. In the 1990s, I can still remember D. James Kennedy’s preaching followed by Rush Limbaugh’s political commentary—all without my dad ever changing the dial. In that world, the lines between religion and politics were not accidental. At one time, I would have called them blurred; now that I know more, I say they were intentionally erased. The Republican Party made a calculated effort to align itself with evangelical Christianity, tapping into the power of a committed voting bloc and AM radio.

For a long time, I believed that my faith and my politics had to be one and the same. All the magazines, Christmas cards, and mailers my family received only reinforced that viewpoint. Reagan was basically another apostle. George Bush would one day sit at God’s right hand. It really made me wonder who was in the Holy Trinity during Sunday school. It’s easy to forget the Holy Ghost.

As a teenager, I served as a page for then-State Representative Becky Skillman, and in college, I joined College Republicans. It all felt natural—until I began to see the cracks. First, through my work as a reporter in my early 20s, and later, as a public educator and union advocate. I watched firsthand as policies like Governor Mitch Daniels’ promotion of his 1%, 2%, and 3% property tax caps stripped essential funding from our schools and communities. More recently, Senate Bill 1’s proposal to eliminate property taxes altogether strikes me as yet another attempt by Republican leaders to “clean up” the mess they created while ignoring the fact that our schools, fire departments, libraries, and local services depend on that revenue. While some argue that our country or state is in debt and that these services could be funded elsewhere, we must think critically about the long-term consequences of such cuts. It may save money in the short run, but ask yourself: What kind of community are we left with when the very institutions that support our daily lives are starved of resources?

A lesson from one of my college history professors has stayed with me: he wrote “rhetoric” and “reality” on the chalkboard and explained that rhetoric is what people say to convince you, while reality is what you actually see. That lesson resonated more than ever in 2016 as Donald Trump’s rise made the gap between promises and actions glaringly evident. I didn’t need to listen to Fox News or read an article in The New York Times to form my opinion. I just had to listen to him speak, watch how he treated others, how he spent his money, and how he spent his time. It doesn’t stop with just him. Extend that same idea to other leaders.

I began to realize that changing one’s mind is not an act of betrayal, but a journey toward living more authentically according to one’s true values.

Today, I proudly serve as Chair of the DeKalb County Indiana Democratic Party. Our county, like much of Indiana, is deeply red. Yet, the latest November 2024 election data reveal modest gains for Democratic candidates. This is a powerful sign: more of our neighbors than many assume are embracing progressive values. It speaks to a shift that’s not just about percentages, but about recognizing that a growing number of residents are willing to vote for leadership and policies that align with their evolving beliefs, even if it means breaking from the party they once knew.

To those who have ever felt that what you see no longer matches what you’re being told, know this: it’s OK to change your mind. Our political journey is not static; it’s an ongoing process of reassessing our values and striving for a community based on fairness, decency, and inclusion. We can rebuild and reimagine a political home for Democrats, even in places where it has long seemed out of reach.

Lindsay Winslow Brown

Chair, DeKalb County Indiana Democratic Party