Lolita Zinke: This Election Is About Big Issues

I believe in the power of strong female leadership. I’m a pro-military, pro-equal pay, pro-Second Amendment, pro-immigration, and pro-business Hispanic woman voting for Donald Trump. Hillary Clinton is not a strong leader. Blindly voting for Clinton because she happens to be a woman does not prove feminist bonafides. For me, it would go against everything my husband and I have stood for: love of family, strength of our local community, and defense of our country.

I have seen my husband get dragged through the mud and called every name in the book by cowards on Twitter and in the opinion pages. I’ve been criticized myself by the left because they cannot comprehend or respect a woman choosing to vote for Mr. Trump. Because I choose to reject the decades of lies and corruption of Hillary Clinton and her husband’s sordid past, I’ve been called uneducated, (I have a law degree by the way), a puppet (I actually urged Ryan to support Trump), a disgrace to women, and so many more things that are not fit to print. The intolerance of the modern Democratic Party is a far cry from the Democratic Party I used to support as an independent voter.

Let me tell you why I do support Mr. Trump. I’m a wife, daughter, mom and grandma, and I love our country. Like our daughter and granddaughters, I care about what is going on around the world. When Ryan was deployed commanding troops in war, it was my job to keep morale up at home. Navy SEALs are more than colleagues, they are brothers. We are family. When Ty and Glenn died in Benghazi it shook our family. When Hillary Clinton lied about it, it was a slap in the face. When she criticized families for calling her out in it, it was un-American. As a military wife and mom, I will never support somebody who does not support the military.

Everyone knows my husband was a Navy SEAL for 23 years. I also have a daughter who is a Navy Diver and my son in law is an active duty SEAL. My youngest son is considering military service as well. Hillary Clinton will continue the dangerous foreign policy she and President Obama started and she will continue to put out troops in harms way with no plan. This will open us up to more casualties abroad and more terrorist attacks at home.

I’m a small business woman. I am also the mom of two college students who are about to face an economy that under Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton doesn’t have jobs for them. Nearly 13 percent – that’s the unemployment rate for millennials. Taxes, regulations, and economic conditions are important. I believe Trump’s business acumen will help build a stronger economy and he will surround himself with incredibly smart and successful individuals rather than career bureaucrats.

We all know Mr. Trump has said some regrettable things. He’s since apologized. I got over it. With everything that is going on in the world – Iran and North Korea flexing nuclear muscle, terrorist attacks in America, high unemployment with millennials – I think this election is about more than locker room talk.

Lolita Zinke is a small business woman, wife of Congressman Ryan Zinke, and a volunteer member on Donald J. Trump’s Hispanic Advisory Board.