I love my spouse and my children more than I can put into words.  I care about my neighborhood, my city, my state, and my country.  But I cannot reconcile other choices I make.

If a man were to break into my house, would I reward that behavior by sharing the limited resources I have for my family and my children with him?  Yet I vote for a president and a party that reward that behavior with our country's limited resources and taxes. 

My children come home from school every day but still cannot read or write.  I want to send them to a better school, but I cannot afford it.   Why then do I vote for representatives determined to keep my children in these broken schools while denying my family more favorable choices?

My daughter was attacked and sexually assaulted.  I want to protect my children, but I vote for district attorneys who will release dangerous people right back into our community and politicians that want to reduce the police presence in our neighborhoods.

I want to move to a safer neighborhood, but I cannot afford it.  Why then do I vote for a political party that continuously floods our streets with undocumented immigrants and drugs, rewarding this behavior with promises of free medical care, housing, and education that I cannot provide for my own family?

If my son and daughter refuse to work for their allowances, I will not pay them.  Why then do I vote for people who want to reward those bad choices with social services that my family and my children then become dependent on?

I ask for safer neighborhoods, better housing, better schools, better jobs every Election Day, and we never receive any of that.  Yet I continue to vote for the same representatives who live in nice houses outside our neighborhoods and send their kids to private schools.   For decades I voted for the same politicians, and we get the same results.  What is wrong with me?

I demand they do something, and they tell me they cannot because the bad conservatives are doing things to hurt us.  They hate us; they're racists, bigots, homophobes, and xenophobes.  They tell me it is their fault.

But I don't know who these conservatives are; I never see them in our neighborhoods.  I do not vote for them.  There are none in my city government.  The mayor is not a conservative.  My congressman is not a conservative; I do not know how much a senator has to do with these issues, but mine are liberals, too.  Our teachers are liberal; our church leaders are liberal.  How can these "conservatives" have such a huge impact on my life?   And why cannot the people in charge, the people I voted for, help with the issues?

Yet, every election cycle, I choose to believe that this time, it will be different. 

I am so conflicted and confused; how can I vote for policies that I would never allow my family to exercise while expecting things to change for the better?

Richard Lawless is an investigative journalist who specializes in writing articles on complex financial issues and government corruption.  Mr. Lawless writes for major publications, and you can see his work in The Hill, the Daily Caller, the Daily Mail, The New York Observer, and many other publications.  See Richard Lawless/Muck Rack.

Caricature by Donkey Hotey, CC BY 2.0 license.