I have been struggling to decide who to vote for president. This field that was hyped as the “most talented in a generation” has turned out to be a field full of mediocrities. Standing atop the field until last night was a vulgar carnival barker and reality TV star. Instead of a debate on ideas, we have mindless sloganeering and empty words.

Donald Trump absolutely cannot be the Republican nominee. Trump is not a conservative, he has not fought with conservatives, and he has actively aided and funded the enemies of conservatives. It’s more than that though. To nominate Trump would be to reward a demagogue for his demagoguery. We’re not going to rehash his idiotic proposals and vulgar remarks, but someone like that should not be representing conservatives and a major political party.

Now the task at hand is to support someone who actually can defeat Trump. I hesitated to align behind a presidential candidate and I even gave strong thought to not voting in the Louisiana primary on March 5th. But I can’t sit on the sidelines and let Trump get the nomination unopposed.

Beating Trump isn’t enough for me. I want to support the candidate who is the closest to my beliefs while at the same time can actually win a primary and general election.

That leaves just one man in the race, Ted Cruz. Cruz is a consistent conservative and the biggest nightmare of the corrupt GOP Establishment. Cruz is a very sharp debater and very well read on economics and the Constitution. Cruz has also stood with us and fought with us, often standing alone. Especially when compared to a clown like Donald Trump, standing with Ted Cruz is a very easy choice.

On the issues, there’s a lot to like about Ted Cruz. He will undo all of Obama’s unconstitutional executive orders, he will move us to a flat tax, and he will slash the size of the government. Cruz will keep America safe, but he will not get us involved in George W. Bush style nation building in the Middle East. Cruz will also use the best intelligence possible to protect us against terrorism, but he will not betray the Constitution and our civil liberties to do it. Finally Ted Cruz will secure the border, but he will not violate the Constitutional rights of American citizens to do it. There also won’t be a pathway to citizenship for illegal aliens, ever.

This election is not just about defeating the Democrat Party, it’s also about defeating the corrupt GOP establishment as well. The priority of most Republicans in Washington D.C. is turning tricks for the donor class, not representing conservatives. We need to throw the donor class and Chamber of Commerce moneychangers out of the temple.

The GOP needs dire reform and that will not be done by a political establishment that is more concerned with chasing crony handouts for big business than representing the people and growing the party. There has to be consequences for lying and promising the world and delivering nothing.

Right now, their standard bearer is Marco Rubio. Rubio has a good life story, he’s charming, and he looks good on TV. But beyond the pretty speeches lies a record that I strongly disagree with. Marco Rubio was a supporter of getting involved in Barack Obama’s air war against Libya in 2011. Libya is now a failed state that is home to ISIS. Rubio hasn’t learned from this folly because he wants to get involved in Syria’s civil war as well. Indeed, it’s tough to think of a country Marco Rubio doesn’t want to invade.

Also, let’s look at Rubio’s leadership ability. What is Marco Rubio’s biggest accomplishment in the Senate? Supporting the “Gang of 8” amnesty bill. That was until conservatives started objecting to it. Once conservatives loudly opposed it, Rubio ran away from his own bill. Now I happen to support some kind of legalization for most illegal immigrants because you’re not going to deport them, but it doesn’t speak well about Rubio’s ability to lead that he ran away from this bill.

Rubio takes and took bad policy positions that must be punished. He is a supporter of Obama’s NSA spying on American citizens without a warrant. Rubio also pandered to the ethanol lobby in Iowa whereas Cruz stood up to them. Rubio is a supporter of sugar subsidies and has even claimed they are vital to national security. Rubio’s tax plan is a budget buster, especially since Rubio has not proposed any serious cuts to Federal spending. Rubio wants to involve the Federal government in social issues whereas Cruz supports leaving those to the states where they belong.

To nominate Marco Rubio would send the message that we’re fine with the current Republican Party and that only things we need to change is that we need to go back to the George W. Bush era of big government conservatism at home and national building abroad. That certainly isn’t true and I for one am not interested in going back to the days of George W. Bush.

Now some of you will argue that Cruz is a demagogue at times, which is a valid concern. Cruz’s defund Obamacare stunt was idiocy, but he was knifed in the back by Mitch McConnell when he tried to attack Obamacare earlier in 2013. Some will also say that Cruz can’t get along with his fellow Senators but given who makes up that body, is that really a bad thing? Others will say that Cruz can’t win a general election, but here’s the thing I would rather lose a general election with Ted Cruz than win one with Donald Trump. Besides, it’s too early to know who the Democrat nominee is and what will happen between now and November.

The Rubio supporters will likely chime in and say Cruz is “Trump lite.” But here’s the difference between Cruz and Trump, Cruz has a strong conservative and constitutionalist foundation that grounds his beliefs. Trump on the other has no real foundation and says what he believes the mob wants to hear. Trump has no core beliefs, let alone any conservative ones. Speaking of no core beliefs, do we really want to have that conversation about Marco Rubio?

Now Cruz does need to work on a few things before he wins the nomination. He needs to drop his habit of resorting to “lawyer talk” at times. He also needs to soften his image up a bit. Finally, he needs to do an un-Ted Cruz thing which is to reach out to those who aren’t normally Republicans. Cruz can unite conservatives, but conservatives alone cannot win a general election. We need moderates as well.

If Cruz does not win the nomination, I have no problems voting for all the other Republicans running for president in November except one. I will never cast a vote for Donald Trump. Basic human decency has to take precedence over party loyalty and defeating Democrats, even those as awful as Hillary Clinton or Bernie Sanders. Trump is an authoritarian demagogue who would make Obama or even Hillary and Bernie look like Thomas Jefferson.

Ronald Reagan once said that it was a “time for choosing” when he spoke in favor of Barry Goldwater in 1964. In 2016, we too find ourselves at a “time for choosing.” Will we be a party that stands for the values of liberty, limited government, and traditional values that made America great? Or will we nominate a demagogue who tells us what we want to hear but at the end of the day has no respect for the constitutional limits of his power and is part of the corrupt political class?

Does our party stand for the average American or do we work for the donor class and chase crony capitalist handouts?

Will we elect a devoted Christian, family man, and someone America will be proud of or will we turn the White House into the set of a trashy reality TV show?

On March 5th, I will choose Ted Cruz in the Louisiana primary and I hope you will as well.