Should pro-lifers ignore social issues in this upcoming election?

Some GOP officials like Governors Mitch Daniels and Haley Barbour are urging pro-lifers and traditional marriage advocates to take a seat on the bench and hush their mouths so the Republican Party can focus on economic issues.

A smart political play? Maybe. But here’s the thing. I’m not smart, OK? I’m no great political strategist. I’m not James Carville or Karl Rove. I’m just a voter and I’m done trying to be smart. I mean it. I’m done. I’m done playing the angles and reading the polls. I’m voting my conscience. Every time. And it drives me crazy to hear people telling me to vote with my head and not my heart. It drives me crazy to be told to “be smart.” Smart gave Republicans Arlen Specter.

And we’re even being told to “be smart” in who we vote for in the primary because pro-lifers may vote for a candidate who can win a primary but not a general election. Are they kidding? Republicans have had that kind of majority before. How’d that work out?

We’re being told to ignore our conscience during the primaries and choose candidates who we’re told can in the general election. But why the heck shouldn’t I vote my conscience in a primary? If a majority of Republicans vote for a candidate they don’t really like what you’ll likely get is a candidate that nobody likes.

Their way gave us the disastrous Republican majority we had during the last decade. Their way gave us John McCain. I’m tired of their way.

I’m voting my conscience. Stop telling me to be a strategist. I’m just a voter who’s horrified at the number of unborn children being killed. I’m just a voter who worries about the collapsing American family. I’m just a voter who’s frightened of the effects of a secularized and over sexualized culture on our children.

I won’t be paying attention to the advice of those in the know. I’m officially in the “no.”