Alright, y'all, the time has come for me to share my thoughts again this election season. I have been relatively quiet regarding current events and the election lately, which is so NOT easy for me. Those of you that follow my social media may not agree, but considering my passion and the two candidates running and everything going on in the world, I have used some serious self control. (Although, I will admit, if you have posted anything in favor of Hillary Clinton, I have more than likely unfollowed you.) I have also been trying to process everything and prayerfully figuring out where I really stand and why. So here goes.
I haven't written a blog post since the post I wrote begging my fellow conservative friends NOT to vote for Donald Trump as the Republican nominee. Obviously, a lot has changed since then...and I have struggled with the right thing to do. I am going to just put it out there and not beat around the bush. Even though it is hard for me to admit...unless something drastically changes between now and November I will be voting for Donald Trump.
There, I said it. It is not super easy to share considering how vocal I have been about my opposition to him, but let's be honest, I am not the first person that has had to come around (think Ted Cruz?!) I still stand by all of the reasons I shared about why he would not have been my pick as the Republican nominee. However; the primaries have come and gone and the American people have spoken. He is our only option besides Hillary Clinton. I know I have seen several friends sharing posts about there being a third option. While I could write an entire blog post on that, I will just say that I do believe a vote for Gary Johnson or any third party candidate is a vote for Hillary Clinton. Besides that, I disagree with Johnson on so many points (open borders, his plan for our military, etc.) So, we are left with two options: Hillary Clinton or Donald Trump.
After Trump was elected as our party's candidate, I did a lot of soul searching. I told my husband that there was a good chance I would just skip out and not vote this election. I don't think I really meant that, but I was just so shocked that these were our choices. I think it was the Republican National Convention that really changed things for me. I watched almost every minute and listened to every speaker. I went into it with a pretty closed mind, and I am not going to lie, Donald Trump really grew on me that week. I was beyond impressed with each of his children who spoke so highly of him. They are one of his biggest assets. I love their involvement in the campaign and passion for our country. I also loved seeing that they all worked and started at the bottom from the time they were young. I don't care what you say about that man, not only did he raise some pretty awesome kids, but he has a great relationship with all of them.
He is a businessman and he knows how to run a company. You can throw things out there about his businesses going bankrupt and him avoiding taxes, but he is a BUSINESS MAN. There is not an American out there that runs a company that hasn't done their best to avoid paying taxes. Hillary Clinton (and really every other candidate that ran in the primaries) has been in the political elite class for so many years. They are SO out of touch. What they are doing in Washington is not working. The fact that Trump was even nominated shows you that people are just OVER IT. We know what to expect with career politicians, which is more of the same, and with Trump...well, he is a wildcard. One thing that is certain, though, is that we know he will bring change. There is something so refreshing about that. The way our government does everything is so backwards. The fact that Trump completes jobs and does them under budget and ahead of schedule (man I sound like I am drinking the Kool-aid, but seriously) is such a far cry from what we see in Washington now.
I also absolutely love his VP pick. I think Mike Pence is the perfect compliment to Donald Trump. One thing I have seen with Trump through his businesses and this election season, is that he knows how to surround himself with good people. To me, that is half the battle. I like seeing that he consulted the construction workers on his big real estate projects. If you surround yourself with the right people and are open to their feedback, you don't need to know everything about everything. Who cares if Hillary Clinton can beat him in "knowledge" of the way the political system has run. It is a failing system, and we need the right team of people to figure out how to fix it.
One of the things that bothered me the most about Trump in the primaries was the way he spoke to people and especially women. While he continues to be crass and make unnecessary statements, (he is Trump and that probably ain't changing) I actually don't believe that he is sexist. If you look at his record of hiring women for big jobs, you can see that he is actually quite the opposite. Sure, he does have a big mouth and makes STUPID statements, but if you look at his businesses and relations with the women he works with, you will see a different story. Besides, if we want to talk about sexist, let's talk about Hillary Clinton helping her husband cover up all of his sex scandals for political gain. She is by far the worst representation for women I have ever seen. I do not want Annie to grow up with her as the first female president. It makes me physically sick.
As far as Trump's faith, I have read that he is new in his Christian faith at best, but I know that he has put together a team of close religious advisors including people I really respect like Ben Carson and Franklin Graham to advise him on these issues. He is also standing up for Christians, and that is not something we have seen from any democratic politicians in a long time. While a deep faith in Jesus is something I would love to have in a candidate, that might not be an option this election cycle. We can only pray and hope that the people surrounding Trump will show him the light.
Trump is FAR from ideal. As I watched him debate Clinton last night, I kept thinking, "oh my gosh, Cruz or Rubio would absolute eat her for lunch right now. WHAT IS HE DOING?!" However, something that is really bothering me is certain assumptions that are being made about Donald Trump and his supporters. First and foremost the assumption that Trump and many of his supporters are racist. Donald Trump has been in the public eye almost his entire life. Why is it that the first time he has been accused of being a racist is when he is running as a Republican candidate? It is my belief that it is actually the democrat's model of government that does the most harm to minorities. The very politicians that are grabbing the majority of the African American vote every election cycle are the ones that are doing NOTHING to change things. Hillary Clinton said in the debate last night that we are all inherently racist, and I thought, "Hey, speak for yourself." The divisive rhetoric that has been spewed by the left and the media has caused more racial unrest and divide then this country has seen in years. I know I am getting a little off track here, and the debate about the race in our country is a very deep, painful subject that could not possibly be condensed into a blog post, but the point I want to make is that voting for Donald Trump does not make you a racist. That is just what the media and the left wants the American people to believe and it is NOT TRUE.
As for the debate last night, I was very disappointed. I do not think Trump did well. I think Hillary did worse, because she is truly the most despicably dislikable horrible human on the planet (I think I need to pray, because the hate I have for her is probably not healthy.) Her fake laughter and snarky tone were just tough to even watch. I had to mute the last 15 minutes, because I just couldn't handle it. Trump missed a lot of opportunities, though. He spent far too much time defending himself on silly issues (his ego came into play) and far too little time attacking Clinton. No one cares about the birth certificate or his stance on Iraq as a civilian without all the classified information. Where was he on the emails, Benghazi, the Clinton foundation, all the scandals and lies? I wanted to yell at the TV! Watching him in the debate reminded me why I did not vote for him in the primaries. Here is the thing, though. He is not a good debater. He never was. At every single primary debate I thought, well he did terrible and this is the end of his campaign. Every time I was wrong. Somehow he just gets things done...somehow, as Trump loves to say "braggadociously," he WINS. I do not think the debate is going to determine the election. I think the American people are OVER IT and are onto the media and the lies and the same old crap.
So, there you have it. I pray that the people of this country that are having a hard time with the thought of voting for Donald Trump will do some soul searching just as I have. I pray they will consider the supreme court nominees, national security and what would happen to this country under a Hillary Clinton presidency. There is nothing scarier than that to me. I think of our children, and I pray that Trump will take this country in the right direction. When it is all said and done, though, I know that we cannot put our faith in a candidate for president anyways. We can put our faith in the ultimate Healer, and we can do our part to love our neighbors. That is it. That is how we will make America great again. The rest is up to God.
Thanks for reading, friends!
