I stand on the side of equality. Meaning, I believe that as a woman, I am perfectly capable of making decisions to provide for myself. Being on an equal footing with men negates the need for special concessions from the government to take care of you. I don’t need or want free “goodies” because I understand that a government that is big enough to give me everything I want is big enough to take away everything I have.

I stand on the side of intellectual integrity. Meaning, I don’t traffic in salacious scare tactics by insinuating that anyone would ever think that domestic abuse was justified. I don’t throw around flamingly false accusations that a political party is trying to take away birth control. I understand that tying “women’s rights” to “free birth control” is an insult to women. It shatters the notion that we have broken that glass ceiling, when—all these years later—we continue to allow attention to only be drawn to our reproductive system. Come on.

I stand on the side of moral integrity. Meaning, that though I have the freedom to behave in whatever manner I want, I choose to live a life worthy of the gifts I’ve been given. I understand the meaning of “TMI” and choose to behave accordingly. It’s called having class. I don’t appreciate my gender being hijacked by women who sacrifice dignity and self-respect on the altar of an “enlightened” sexuality. Your sex life does not belong in the political arena any more than the world revolves around you. Don’t embarrass me in front of my family and my colleagues in the adult world while you continue to childishly confuse vulgarity with liberation. One cannot be truly empowered if one doesn’t even have the power of self-restraint.

So perhaps we can agree to disagree in a lady-like manner. I am fine with that. You can call me archaic, ignorant, indifferent, and “NUTS” or worse, that’s fine. I will smile and say, “Have a nice day!” You see, I am truly, wonderfully, and grace-fully free, choosing to celebrate my womanhood, my motherhood, my intelligence, my ability and my challenges, my joys and sorrows, my integrity… and the knowledge that a woman’s real beauty shines from the inside—reflecting her strength of character.

But please, there’s no crying in baseball, and there should be no whining in politics. Quit making it difficult for those of us who understand that rights = responsibility. Please quit muddying the water of a woman’s voice in government but pretending you speak for all us. You don’t. I’m a card-carrying member of the NRA, not the NOW. You don’t speak for me, because I am, in fact, capable of talking about bigger issues. You know, like the $16 trillion national debt or the current crisis in the Middle East. Women are really that smart. We are! But when you claim that women’s top issue in this crucial 2012 election is birth control, how could you pretend to be seeking true equality?

So I will vote Republican, focusing on the real issues in this country. I choose to vote like our economy depended on it. I choose to vote like our Constitutional rights depended on it. And I’ll choose to vote with my brain, thank you. I just believe better decisions come from that end.