He is interested in two things and two things only: making you afraid of it and telling you who's to blame for it.

I am having a crisis of my faith. Not my religious faith but my political faith. My political ideals have been very important to me for a long time. I had my first witness, if you will, on November 4, 1980, as I cheered Ronald Wilson Reagan to victory over Jimmy Carter. I vividly remember that night as I was allowed to stay up late with my parents and watch the election returns on our 20 inch, black and white TV. I took one look at Ronnie and I was hooked. I remained a staunch Republican throughout elementary school and kept track of electoral votes on November election evenings in 1984 and 1988. The year 1991 was very important to my political development as I fell in love twice that year. The first was with a man who believed in everything I did and thus I became a fervent Rush Limbaugh listener from the first moment I laid ears on him. The second happened in October when I discovered Senator Orrin Hatch during the Clarence Thomas/Anita Hill Hearings. I was smitten from the beginning. As a junior in high school, most of the girls had photos of the "90210" hotties in their lockers. I had photos of Orrin Hatch in my locker and taped to my school notebooks. There was no more exciting moment to be had in my young life than the day the autographed photograph of him arrived for me in the mail along with a letter that he actually signed thanking me for my support. I carried them around with me for months and still have both in my possession. In 1992 when Clinton took over the White House, I was discouraged but still fervent in my political beliefs. Being one month away from 18 and too young to vote was heartbreaking. Especially, when my friends who could vote were all voting for Clinton. Traitors. I cast my first presidential vote in 1996 for Bob Dole, even though I knew he had no chance of winning. The 2000 election brought all my political fervor from simmering to boiling over. I was fixated with the election. I watched "The O'Reilly Factor" and "Hannity and Combs" like a fiend. I knew everything there was to know about ballots and hanging chads and the counties that made up the state of Florida. Our TV was rarely off Fox News for the entire month of November and into December until Al Gore conceded the election on December 13(my birthday) to President George W. Bush. Again in 2004, I cast my ballot for President Bush.

For months, the candidates for president in 2008 have been in the forefront of mainstream news. They are discussed ad nauseam on the radio and television. As I listen to speeches, read articles and take quizzes matching me with my perfect candidate, I have learned something very interesting about myself. I might not be a conservative Republican any more. *Gasp* I am definitely a social conservative. There are certain issues that are more important to me than others. Abortion, traditional marriage, and stem cell research are issues that I don't think I'll ever lean to the left on. I would have to say that the right of the unborn is my most important issue. I would have an extremely difficult time voting for someone who doesn't agree that all life from the moment of conception is sacred. I am also conservative when it comes to the war in Iraq, believing that we need to leave our troops there for the long haul. The leftward leanings that I have are when it comes to economics, the death penalty, health care, education and immigration. As I have grown and experienced life more, I find myself changing my opinions on these issues. So am I a liberal Republican or a conservative Democrat? The last thing I want to be is a moderate. What is happening to me? I still love listening to Rush but no longer can stand Sean Hannity and Bill O'Reilly and their self-important attitudes.

I don't like any of the candidates for president this year. You are saying to yourself, "Jennifer, but the Mormon...surely you must love the Mormon." The last thing I would ever do would be to vote based on someone's religious beliefs. Romney isn't getting a pass from me on his flip-flopping Abortion views just because he's a Mormon. None of the Democrats are pro-life and none of the Republicans match my other criteria. My true crisis of faith this November will come if I am forced to choose between two pro-choice candidates like Giuliani and Clinton or Obama. I have no idea what I will do then. I might just have to write in Orrin Hatch.