Last week, Jillian Clark wrote an article that presented itself to be a thoughtful discussion about the slogan of Presidential Candidate Donald Trump. However, her article quickly deteriorates into the unproductive, and dishonest practice, of putting words in other people’s mouths. As a Republican, I don’t have to assume or put words in someone else’s mouth when it comes to why we are supporting our nominee. I also will not try to, as Miss Clark has, speak for millions of Americans. What I will do is present the alternative viewpoint that I hold and that Miss Clark has tried to hide underneath a series of untrue and fabricated assumptions about those she disagrees with.

She begins with the question, “which past America are we yearning for?” The answer she decides to create, unsurprisingly, is one she can easily attack but is not at all the truth. Many Republicans are looking back not to a specific date or decade but to a set of beliefs that President Ronald Reagan articulated so well when he said “Government is not the solution to our problem; government is the problem.”

The Democrat candidate Hillary Clinton, who is a lifelong politician, says she will continue down the same policy path as President Obama despite the clear economic and foreign policy failures of his administration. It was Secretary Clinton who during the course of a congressional investigation delated emails that were under a preservation order and a subpoena from Congress. The foundation that Secretary Clinton runs with her husband has accepted hundreds of millions of dollars from third world countries that treat women as second class citizens and even some as property. At this same foundation it is Secretary Clinton who pays her female employees 38% less than their male counterparts. In her speeches to Wall Street firms Hillary Clinton says that a politician needs to have public stances that they tell the voters and private stance that is used behind closed doors. Despite what she has said to millions of Americans at her rallies, in her speeches behind those closed doors she has told her wall-street donors that she believes in an open boarder policy, that has already proven to be disastrous in Europe, and complete free trade which would destroy employment opportunities inside of the United States. President Obama warned the American people in 2008 in a campaign ad about Hillary Clinton when he said “Hillary Clinton will say anything to get elected.”

Despite what Miss Clark and her candidate would have you believe Republicans are not a basket of deplorables. They are people who have seen the failed policy of the Obama Administration and don’t think our country can endure another four years. They are people who want a change in direction, and don’t want another Washington Insider bought and paid for by special interests. They are our neighbors, classmates and friends. They are not the ‘basket of deplorables’ that Miss Clark and Secretary Clinton feel so entitled to demean and attack. They are Americans, people, who hold different beliefs than her, not her personal punching bag.

The Republican Party has always strived to make the tough choices, whether those choices were popular or not. It was the Republican Party that passed Civil Rights legislation against opposition from the majority of Democrats. It was the Republican Party that passed Women’s Suffrage against opposition from a majority of Democrats. If you are truly interested in discussing the important issues facing our country, I would invite you Miss Clark, to publicly debate me on these issues. To speak face to face with a Donald Trump supporter and have this important conversation. I am more than willing, I have done it before and I will do it again to keep this always important dialogue between both sides of the aisle accurate and alive.