Before 2018, the Republican argument “I won’t vote for someone because they are a woman, but because they are the best candidate for the position” would have been enough to rationalise yet another year of men running Capitol Hill.

The basis of this argument is rational: don’t support a candidate who doesn’t fully deserve it.

But this argument hasn’t been used against the party that invented it, and it being 2018 – a tremendous year of triumph and tribulation for women’s rights – I believe it’s time to turn the tables.

It is no longer the job of a party, but that of a candidate, to justify why they deserve our vote – and too many candidates are failing to do so.

As midterm elections are coming up, it is becoming apparent that there’s a “woman problem” in the GOP, and it is going to do some long-term damage to America’s conservative party if they do not work to solve it.

One such candidate is Marsha Blackburn, a Republican who is running to become Tennessee’s first female senator.

When asked what the potential significance her election could have for women’s rights, she told The Washington Post: “I don’t campaign on the gender issue.” Needless to say, the gender issue, also known at one point as “the right to vote”, should not be belittled by any current political candidate.

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Not only is Blackburn refusing to acknowledge part of her identity, but she is failing to stand up on behalf of women as a whole.

Blackburn may have been the ideal conservative candidate in the past (minus the dick), favouring national security and disapproving of high taxes, but this is no longer enough – and it’s showing.

This midterm election was expected to be a landslide in Blackburn’s favour. In the last presidential election, 61 per cent of Tennessee’s voters opted for Trump. Still, the results are expected to be very close. Even Taylor Swift recently took to Instagram to acknowledge her disapproval. “[Blackburn’s] voting record in Congress appals and terrifies me. She voted against equal pay for women,” Swift wrote. “She voted against the reauthorisation of the Violence Against Women Act, which attempts to protect women from domestic violence, stalking, and date rape.”

I’m not sure when advocating for women’s rights became separate from the Republican Party, but it should no longer be acceptable. Women have already given up too much in the fight for equality.

One of the few Republican women embracing her gender as a part of her campaign for Senate is Martha McSally from Arizona. In her announcement video for Senate, she says: “I told Washington Republicans to grow a pair of ovaries and get the job done.”

McSally’s willingness to embrace her gender needs to become a more widely accepted idea to conservatives. She proves that being conservative and supporting women isn’t mutually exclusive. You can be a champion of your party and openly support female rights.

It’s important to note that these are the faults of the Republican Party. The Democratic Party has time and time again proved their willingness to support different genders, races, and sexual orientations – something that the Republican Party should learn from.

Before Americans scramble to the voting booths to vote in the midterm elections, I encourage voters to ask themselves the tried-and-true question: are you voting for this candidate because they are the most qualified?

If your candidate can’t take a stance to promote equality among men, women, or any gender for that matter, they should not be rewarded with your vote.