Opinion

Vote Your Conscience, Not Your Emotions

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There’s been a lot of talk about what the suburban Republican soccer mom demographic thinks about this election. In every sense of the phrase, I am a suburban Republican soccer mom.

I don’t tow any party line, be it Republican Party, Tea Party, or otherwise. I believe in lower taxes, a strong military supported by its commander-in-chief, and a public school system that teaches my kids to spell, write, and do math, instead of pushing a social agenda.

I believe government needs to stay out of my business and out of school bathrooms. I am pro-legal immigration, and I believe that life begins at conception. I believe the Constitution is not a list of suggestions.

I’ve sat back and watched people screaming #nevertrump through my computer, and even louder on TV. Donald Trump was not my first or second choice, but he will be my choice in November.

Anything else would be getting it wrong, and we can’t afford to get it wrong in the next four years. Not at a time when we will have potentially three Supreme Court vacancies, and not after we’ve had an administration who has exercised severe government overreach into our local communities for the purpose of imposing a political agenda.

Conservatives who can’t bring themselves to vote for Trump because he’s — take your pick — not conservative enough, isn’t a politician, or isn’t “presidential” enough, are fooling themselves if they think they are being “principled” by staying home. Like it or not, if you stay home you’re voting.

You’re voting for a Supreme Court molded in the image of Sonia Sotomayor, which will continue to chip away at your freedom and will continue to rewrite the Constitution into whatever suits its political ends, until it is unrecognizable. You’re voting for more federal invasion into your local governments and your kids’ schools. You’re voting for a commander-in-chief who does not value, and will not protect, the lives of those serving in our armed forces.

Neither my conscience nor my principles will allow me to cast that vote. It’s precisely because of my conscience and my principles that I will be going to the polls on Election Day.  Perhaps people are plagued with short term memory this election cycle, because the last couple of Republican nominees could hardly be considered conservative or, in some cases, presidential.

John McCain called religious leaders “agents of intolerance.” He claimed to be pro-life but still voted to fully fund Planned Parenthood. He was one of only seven Republicans in the Senate to vote against the Federal Marriage Amendment. He supports amnesty, opposed the Bush tax cuts, and co-authored the infamous McCain-Feingold campaign finance “reform” bill.

And let’s not forget his dropping multiple f-bombs on a reporter in 2008, as well as on fellow colleague Sen. John Cornyn in 2007. Hardly presidential.

Mitt Romney was pro-choice and pro-gun control until he decided to run for president. As governor he pushed and signed his own version of ObamaCare, affectionately known as “RomneyCare,” into law. Obama’s campaign manager David Axelrod admitted it served as a template for ObamaCare.

Yet no one screamed #neverMcCain or #neverRomney.

Trump is unconventional but that’s why he’s the presumptive nominee. Trump’s brand of outside-the-box politician threatens business as usual for the Republican establishment.

I get that he’s a little scary to some because he’s never held elected office before, so we don’t really have a blueprint of what he will do. However, millions of Republicans and independents who’ve cast votes for him have spoken loud and clear. They don’t want conventional.

Trump isn’t just successful, he’s smart. Unlike Obama, he’s smart enough to know what he doesn’t know, and he will surround himself with people who will give him the greatest shot at success as president. If he succeeds, America succeeds.

I don’t have a crystal ball and I don’t profess to know what Trump will do on every issue. However, I believe there will be areas of common ground, and that common ground is what I’m voting for in November.

I don’t believe in voting for the “least of two evils.” I am voting for the person who will uphold some of my convictions and respect some of my principles, who will give us the best chance to stop the severe government overreach of the last eight years, who will secure our borders and keep our country safe, a commander-in-chief who will respect and honor our military. I am voting for a Supreme Court that will respect the Constitution instead of rewrite it.

This November, I am voting for the world I want my kids to grow up in.

Ms. Appell is a full time mom – including soccer mom, cheerleading mom, dance mom and tennis mom – in Fairfax, Va.