The Checklist

The Checklist

Republican. In the days and weeks since the 2012 presidential election, it sounds like a dirty word. Republican. Old, white, rich men smoking cigars and cackling as they plot and scheme to control women's reproductive systems. Republican. Ignorant religious, born-again Christians who hate homosexuals and condemn them. Republican. Gun toting ranchers hunting down illegal immigrants like game as they race across the border. Republican. If you believe the imagery the mainstream media conjures up, Republican is synonymous with pariah.

While I am offended by these notions, I also acknowledge that many people don't know about the other kind of Republicans. The Republicans like me. I am a Republican. I am an Urban Republican. I don't fit the description of the “typical” Republican, as the media would like you to believe. When I first thought of writing this blog, my intent was to show those on the outside that we Republicans are not all like this. However, after the shooting in Newtown and my ongoing debates with fellow Republicans over guns, I realize I need to remind my fellow Republicans that we are not all like this.

If there was a checklist, of what makes a Republican (according to some), it would look something like the column on the left, below. My feelings on these topics are in the column on the right, below:

Republican Characteristics/Beliefs	√	My characteristics/beliefs
Rich		I am far from rich. I'm an attorney, I make decent money, but I'm paying back huge student loans and will be doing so for the next 25 years.
Man		I am a woman (and I'm not a mother, nor do I intend to be.)
White	√	Yes, I'm white, but I'm half-Italian, quarter Polish, eighth English and eighth German. I'm basically a European mutt.
Evangelical Christian		I am Roman Catholic. I don't beat anyone with a bible. I go to church once in a blue moon, but we have confession as an option, which is pretty cool.
Pro-family values	√	I have nothing against family values, but I have no desire to have children. My husband and my dog are more than enough family for me.
Anti-Gay Marriage		This is where the party and I strongly disagree. I am 100% in favor of gay marriage. Everyone deserves to marry the person he or she loves as long as that person is a consenting adult. I am also in favor of adoption, surrogacy and sperm donation for same-sex couples. Anyone who goes through all that trouble must really want the child and will take very good care of him/her. Straight people just have to be careless and a baby comes along.
Pro-life/anti-birth control	√	I'll admit, I am pro-life. I would never have an abortion (despite my desire to never have children), but I also don't think this needs to be a major platform for our party. I agree that the tax payers shouldn't have to pay for abortions. I also feel they shouldn't have to pay for contraception, but I am 100% in support of it's use. I use it. I don't want children. I am 39 years old....you know how many times I've been pregnant? Zero!!! It's amazing what being responsible can do.
Pro-Military/War on Terror	√	I absolutely support our troops and I fully support a strong military and defense spending. We need to do whatever it takes to kee p our country safe. Let us also not forget that many technological advances and gadgets we enjoy today originated in the military.
Anti-Immigration	√	I am against illegal immigration. People need to come here through the proper channels and pay taxes. I do not approve of people sneaking across the border and staying in secret or through loopholes and taking advantage of all the freebies our government gives to people.
Small town/rural mentality		I grew up in Staten Island, NY and now I live in the heart of Los Angeles. I am a city girl through and through. I've never been camping, I've never held a gun, I've never milked a cow, etc.
Racist		I am not a racist. Most Republicans aren't either. Remember the 13th Amendment?
Ignorant		I am not ignorant, I consider myself to be very open-minded.
Fiscal Responsibility	√	I 100% believe in fiscal responsibility. We need low taxes to encourage economic growth and we have to cut spending (like freebies to people taking advantage of the system, free healthcare, etc.) and other government entitlements.
Pro-gun		I fully support a ban on assault weapons. I have listened to ridiculous arguments that we need these guns to fight off the government. I hate to break it to you, but if our government really wants to invade your compound in the woods, your AR-15 arsenal isn't going to keep them out. Let's get these guns off the streets so incidents like Newtown, CT and Aurora, CO never happen again. I do agree that people have the right to own handguns for self-defense and hunting rifles (for hunting...nothing else).
Hunters		I've never been hunting, I would never hunt. I love animals. I love my dog more than life itself
Tough on Crime	√	I fully support laws that are tough on crime, but I also believe that a person is innocent until proven guilty and that the punishment should fit the crime.

I have been accused of not being a true Republican, because I'm anti-gun. Since when does every single box on the checklist have to be checked to be a Republican? So, if I'm pro small government, low taxes, pro-life, but anti-gun, does that make me a liberal?

This idea that Republicans have to fit into this small rigid ideology is ridiculous!!! I was born and raised in New York and lived in New Jersey for a year and somehow I stayed Republican. I've even lived in California (the biggest blue state of them all) for 17 years, working in the entertainment industry for 8 of those years, and wow...I'm still a Republican.   I attended a large private university in the Northeast and law school in Los Angeles and wow....I haven't been swayed from my core values. So, why has the definition and face of our party become so narrow?

Extreme right!!! I'm calling you out. You may have a stronghold on our party now, but not for long. I am proud to be an Urban Republican. More importantly, I am proud to be a Republican. I will not abandon our party and let the extremists do with it what they will. I know we can do better. We are the party of Abraham Lincoln. We are the party of Ronald Reagan.

Ronald Reagan believed in hard work and being rewarded for one's hard work, not being punished with higher taxes. He believed in small government, low taxes and fiscal responsibility...all of which contributed to economic growth during his presidency. He was a member of the NRA, but he supported the Brady bill. Ronald Reagan believed in strong military and national defense. “Peace through strength”.  Due to his leadership, he ended the Cold War without firing a single shot. He believed in equality and an individual's basic rights and freedoms. He appointed the first woman, the first Italian-American and the second African-American to the United States Supreme Court. Ronald Reagan believed in the American dream. Ronald Reagan believed in America...that “shining city on a hill”, as he often called it. These core beliefs are what make a true Republican.

Republicans who think more like me...I'm asking you to join me in bringing our party back to the issues  that are important and stop wasting time on social issues that are none of our business.

Do you really care if your neighbors John and Steve are married to each other and receive the same tax deductions as you do for being married? You shouldn't care, but if you do, you should care, because you're happy to have such great neighbors who most likely decorate their home beautifully and make your neighborhood look a lot better....and they're probably really nice people, too.

Do you really care if the woman in your office is taking birth control and had an abortion when she was 22? Yes, most of us find abortion immoral, but is it really the most important issue facing us today?

Do you really care if the government bans assault weapons? Are you really planning on building an arsenal in case the government decides to hunt down it's own people?

Let's stop focusing on nonsense and get back to what our party is really about....small government, low taxes, and fiscal responsibility.

As the great President Reagan once said, "I know in my heart that man is good. That what is right will always eventually triumph. And there's purpose and worth to each and every life."

I truly believe this sentiment about our nation and our party. We are the party that passed the 13^th Amendment and made every man and woman in this nation free from the bounds of slavery.

We can be that party again. We will be that party again.

Thanks for listening,

The Urban Republican