By Larry Craig

I don’t like to talk about political parties. It draws lines in the wrong places.

I like to talk about ideas and policies. Ideas and policies should be discussed on their own merits apart from political parties and labels.

In less than two months, we are going to have another election. If you watch television or read newspapers, you can easily think that this election is and should be decided on the basis of one issue: abortion.

I think we should take a broader look at what this election is all about.

If you think babies are disposable like a litter of puppies or kittens — if you think unborn children can be killed for any reason up until the time they are born — then by all means, yes, you need to vote Democrat. Republicans can’t always get the details right, but they believe abortion cheapens human life, and they think our society has enough of that.

In the last year, we have had two million people enter our country illegally. Yes, many of them claim to be refugees, but then they have been taught to say that and, practically speaking, almost all illegal immigrants are here to stay. Sure, many of them are nice people. The problem is that we don’t know who’s coming. No background checks, no medical exams.

If you have a problem with any of this, you’re going to have to vote Republican.

If you believe that a country has the responsibility to know who is coming into it to live and whether they have any serious diseases or evil intents, you’re going to have to vote Republican.

We are having the highest inflation in 40 years due to our government spending trillions of dollars it doesn’t have. We are also spending a trillion dollars a year just to pay interest on our federal debt. That is like burning a trillion dollars a year.

If you have a problem with that, you’re going to have to vote Republican.

Our federal government is $31 trillion in debt, and that debt is growing rapidly. The government is not even trying to stop it.

If you have a problem with any of this, you’re going to have to vote Republican.

Violent crime and general lawlessness is out of hand in our country. Police are demoralized and understaffed all across our country. Criminals and other violent people are less worried about the repercussions of their crimes.

If you have a problem with that, going to have to vote Republican.

The federal guidelines for sex education in our public schools normalizes all sexual behavior and encourages your young children to question and explore their sexual behavior and gender at the youngest ages. Schools and politicians want to facilitate any gender transitioning and will do this without the knowledge and consent of parents if necessary.

If you have a problem with schools sexualizing your children, you’re going to have to vote Republican.

If you like the United States being energy independent and not having to buy energy from unfriendly or unreliable sources — if you like heating, electricity, and gas prices being affordable — you’re going to have to vote Republican.

If you are proud to be an American, if you think the United States is the greatest country in the history of the world, and if you believe in the American Dream, you’re going to have to vote Republican.

If you believe that society should be colorblind and that people should be judged on the quality of their character and not the color of their skin, you’re going to have to vote Republican.

If you believe the best qualified people should get the job, you’re going to have to vote Republican.

If you believe in God and the Ten Commandments as our rule of life — if you believe our rights come from God — you’re going to have to vote Republican.

If you believe in the freedom of speech where we can openly talk about touchy subjects — where we can disagree and not be considered hateful — you’re going to have to vote Republican.

If you believe in the right to be armed to protect your life, your property, and your freedom, you’re going to have to vote Republican.

In Illinois, the state is essentially bankrupt. It is on a trajectory of exponentially increasing debt due to the pension clause in the state constitution. This will force ever-increasing tax burdens to pay for this.

If you think this problem should be fixed, you’re going to have to vote Republican.

If you live in Illinois, you will be asked to vote on a constitutional amendment to support workers’ rights. What they’re not telling you is that this amendment was written primarily for government employees more than private ones.

In Illinois, if you think politicians are enriching themselves and using government workers to solidify their control by enriching them all at taxpayer expense, you’re going to have to vote Republican.

Years ago, choosing candidates to vote for was often a difficult task. Politicians have made voting a lot easier today.