I know it might come as a huge shock to those of you who have read my previous columns, but I have a confession to make: I’m a raging liberal. There are a lot of people in my life – both friends and family – who I strongly disagree with when it comes to politics. But I’m okay with that, because like the Democrats in my life, almost all of my Republican friends are intelligent, empathetic and hardworking people, and I can see all these qualities in their actions.

But to my Republican friends, it’s because I know who you are and I see the way you live out your values that I cannot understand the disconnect between who you are as people and the people that you vote into office. And so as I write this column, addressed to you, know that it’s genuinely from the perspective of trying to understand that disconnect.

One of the very basic tenets of the Republican party is fiscal conservatism, which is both a valid political stance and a good way to choose who you vote for. With that being said, why do you continue to support an administration and party that is currently less fiscally conservative than the Democratic Party?

Since 1977, our three Republican presidents have increased the national deficit, while the three Democratic presidents have decreased it, albeit marginally. But don’t just take my opinion or the New York Times for proof: here’s further analysis from Forbes. Mick Mulvaney, Trump’s very own budget director, said in an interview that the budget deal that was struck in February was “troubling” to him and called it a “big spending budget.” And building a 700 mile wall along our border without Mexico isn’t fiscally conservative either – $25 billion is a LOT of money to spend on what even Republicans have called the “least effective method of border control.”

Fiscal conservatism is all fine and good, but right now the GOP is being fiscally  liberal. What makes you actively vote against your own values.

Some of you vote for the Republican party because you are pro-life, another commendable value to look for in each election. But let’s be clear: You support representatives that make it harder for women to access birth control and teach abstinence-only sex education, both of which INCREASE abortions. The administration you voted into office just made plans to weaken regulations on mercury emissions, which is known to damage the immune systems of babies and fetuses, and your voter base backs healthcare plans that don’t cover prenatal and maternal care.

There’s just such a gap between saying you are pro-life and then voting for people that make it harder to prevent pregnancy or care for fetuses and babies that I struggle to understand your rationale. If you are pro-life, take actions that support your beliefs and vote for people who care about babies at all stages of life and not just while they are in the womb.

None of the Republicans I know are stupid and most them are reasonable people that recognize the validity of science. What makes you continue to vote for the only major political party that refuses to recognize climate change as science? I know you realize that something has to be done about the climate, otherwise we face rising sea levels and a crisis that will make borders irrelevant and will come with $54 trillion in damages.Yet fiscal conservatism and border security are both key components of your platform. Why are you actively voting against your own interests?

(And to all my red voters out there that still don’t recognize the reality of climate change, check out the United Nations report — compiled by 91 scientists, from 40 different countries, and pulling from 6000 different scientific studies — that describes a looming climate crisis within the next 12 years.)

Almost all of the Republicans I know have demonstrated enthusiasm for women’s rights and a belief that sexual harassment and discrimination must end. Some of them even are women. They also all voted a man into office who has said that he “just grabs” women by their genitals, that refers to women by their body parts or as bimbos, pigs or dogs, that mocks sexual assault victims on national TV, and has described sexual assault as something that just happens when men and women are together.

I truly don’t understand how these two things can both be true. In complete seriousness, how can you look your sisters and daughters and self in the eye and say that you support the party that endorsed a pedophile for Congress? The people representing the Republican party right now have shown over the past weeks that they consider women second class citizens.Vote those people out and perhaps candidates who actually represent your values will take their place.

To my Republican friends and family that participate in Dance Marathon, St. Jude Up Til Dawn, or other cancer-fighting organizations: did you know that the Trump administration is taking money away from cancer research and using it to pay for the housing of the immigrant children it forcefully separated from their parents? That is a straight fact. And if you voted for people that are moving $260 million from cancer research to pay for the housing of stolen children, you cannot call yourself “for the kids.”

Last but not least, I believe all of you are good people with compassion and empathy for others. Most of you are patriots. But under the Republican Party the US has become a global joke; our former allies openly laugh at us; and we are accused of human rights violations. When you’re at the ballot box, you have a chance to vote for people who represent that compassion and empathy and true patriotic spirit, rather than people who make America the laughingstock of the world. What’s holding you back?

Let me make something perfectly clear: the Democratic Party is by no means free of flaws and has its fair share of terrible candidates and scandals. I am not trying to persuade you to become a liberal, or even that liberalism is inherently better than conservatism. But your party has become a twisted version of what it once was.

Your party is ignoring the greatest climate crisis we have ever faced, effectively condemning tens of millions of people to displacement and death. Your party stole children from their parents and is still keeping them locked up in tent camps. Your party is making THREE YEAR OLDS sit in immigration court. Your party wants to roll back environmental protections and gay rights, make it harder for women to access birth control and maternal healthcare, and is okay with putting sexual predators in office. There is no amount of job growth or tax cuts that makes any of that okay.

It is too late to hide behind cries of “fake news” and “but trickle-down economics!”; either you are on the right side of history or you aren’t. The future of the entire world is at stake, and so is your morality. Take a good hard look at what you’re voting for and what that says about you as a person.

And this election, vote for your values, not your party. You are good people who value security, economic responsibility, women’s rights, healthcare for infants, and the future of our country. The people running on the Republican ticket are not.

For the future of your party and your country, vote them out.