Freedom is Only One Generation Away from Extinction
By Jayme Franklin
Getty Images / Douglas Rissing
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Let’s be honest: most Americans are not spending their evenings tracking congressional races. We have jobs to get to, children to raise, bills to pay, and families who need us. Washington can feel a million miles away from the realities of everyday life.
But the decisions made in Washington have a way of finding their way into our homes, our bank accounts, our schools, our churches, and our children’s futures.
That is why the midterms matter.
Right now, Kalshi reports that the odds of Democrats taking back the House of Representatives is at 91% and Democrats have a 63% chance of winning the Senate.
2026 Midterm Election Predictions courtesy of Kalshi | October 28, 2026
I find this deeply concerning as a Catholic mother who believes faith, family, freedom, and the American Dream are worth defending.
I am voting Republican because I want an America where families can flourish, faith can be practiced freely, communities are safe, and hard work gives people a genuine opportunity to build something of their own. I want a country where young adults can afford to get married, buy a home, raise children, and pursue the American Dream without feeling as though those once-ordinary milestones have become luxuries reserved for the wealthy.
And I believe the policies we choose, and the people we elect to implement them, will help determine whether that dream remains within reach for the next generation.
You do not have to love every Republican candidate. Trust me, I don’t. You do not have to support every decision President Trump makes or pretend that Washington has suddenly become a model of competence.
But if you voted for President Trump because you wanted him to deliver on his promises, we need candidates that support President Trump in Congress.
Presidents do not govern in a vacuum. Congress writes legislation, controls federal spending, and exercises oversight. The Senate votes on judicial nominations and many presidential appointments. A president’s ability to advance his agenda depends, in significant part, on whether lawmakers will support it or stand in its way.
Voting for a president and then sitting out the midterms is a terrible strategy if you care about the direction of your country.
The American Dream Should Not Be a Luxury
For me, the American Dream begins with something profoundly simple: the ability to build a life.
A young couple should be able to marry without feeling financially reckless. A family should be able to save for a home. Parents should have a reasonable chance of affording children without believing they must sacrifice every other aspiration. And people who work hard, start businesses, save responsibly, and invest in their futures should have the opportunity to see those efforts rewarded.
The nuclear family is the foundation of America.
Yet too many Americans feel that the economic ladder is being pulled out from under them. Housing costs, childcare, insurance, groceries, and other household expenses can make it difficult to get ahead, even for families doing everything they have been told to do.
Republicans need to take that frustration seriously and make the American Dream achievable again.
I support policies that encourage saving, investment, entrepreneurship, and ownership. Initiatives such as Trump Accounts, which establish a framework for investing in children’s futures and provide a $1,000 federal contribution for eligible children born between 2025 and 2028, reflect a worthwhile principle: the earlier we help families build assets, the more opportunity we can create for the next generation.
A government contribution will not solve every affordability problem. But encouraging children to begin life with an investment in their future is a constructive step toward a culture of ownership rather than permanent dependence.
There are real reasons to be optimistic about America’s economic future. Median household income reportedly reached $87,460 in 2025, while total U.S. household wealth reached a record $195.9 trillion. The administration has also highlighted more than $11 trillion in announced investment commitments as evidence of renewed confidence in America’s economic potential.
Secure Borders Are a Responsibility, Not a Radical Idea
Immigration is another reason I am voting Republican.
I believe a nation has both the right and the responsibility to enforce its immigration laws. We should welcome people through a functioning legal immigration system, protect our borders, and impose meaningful consequences for trafficking and other criminal activity.
The failures of the Biden administration’s border policies that resulted in millions of illegal border crossings was a humanitarian crisis. There were deeply disturbing cases involving criminal aliens being released into our communities, the murders of American citizens by illegal migrants, and vulnerable migrant children being sex trafficked across our border.
Solving the border crisis has been a central priority for President Trump’s administration. The White House reports that more than three million migrants have left the United States during President Trump’s second term, including people deported and those who departed voluntarily. The Department of Homeland Security also reported zero Border Patrol releases during fiscal year 2026 and a roughly 95% decline in southwest border apprehensions compared with the Biden administration.
Meanwhile, FBI data show that from 2024 to 2025, the national violent crime rate fell 9.3%, murder and nonnegligent manslaughter offenses declined 18.1%, robbery fell 18.5%, rape declined 7.6%, and aggravated assault decreased 7.2%. Property crime fell 12.4%, while motor vehicle theft dropped 22.7% and burglary declined 15.8%.
These figures represent meaningful changes in border enforcement and reported crime. Families deserve safe neighborhoods, a secure border, a sovereign nation, effective policing, and a justice system that holds criminals and illegal migrants accountable.
The American government’s first obligations include protecting the American people it serves.
The Christian Faith Is Foundational to America
As a Catholic and a mother, my political convictions are inseparable from my understanding of human dignity, family, and the responsibilities we owe our children.
I believe unborn children deserve protection. I believe parents have a meaningful role in their children’s education and upbringing. I believe religious liberty is a fundamental freedom, not a privilege that can be withdrawn when our beliefs become inconvenient to the people in power.
These convictions shape how I evaluate candidates and policies.
The Supreme Court’s decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization overturned Roe v. Wade and returned abortion regulation to elected representatives and the political process. I support the protection of unborn life, and I oppose policies that would expand federal funding for abortion. The Democratic Party’s 2024 platform called for restoring federal abortion protections and repealing the Hyde Amendment, which generally restricts federal funding for abortion, subject to exceptions.
These are substantial policy differences, and voters deserve to understand them.
But my concern for families extends well beyond abortion.
We should also make it easier for families to have more children. A pro-family agenda must be more than a slogan and religious liberty must remain central to that vision.
Parents should be able to choose schools that reflect their educational priorities. Religious institutions should be able to practice their faith without government interference. Women and girls deserve fair consideration in policies governing sports, and minors deserve protections against permanent, life-altering genital mutilation surgeries.
Faith, family, and freedom are not outdated ideas. They are among the reasons this country is worth preserving.
Healthy Families, a Healthier America
For mothers, one of the most consequential issues is the health of our children and the well-being of our families. The Make America Healthy Again movement has brought renewed attention to questions that parents have been asking for years: What is in our food? Are our children getting the nutrition they need? Are we doing enough to address chronic disease and protect the next generation?
This administration has made those questions a national priority, from efforts to phase out certain artificial food dyes and improve school nutrition to encouraging families to embrace nutrient-rich, minimally processed foods such as beef, eggs, and whole milk. It has also pursued changes to vaccine guidance, infant formula standards, maternal healthcare, and fertility research. These are issues that deserve serious attention because healthy children and healthy mothers are foundational to strong families and a thriving nation.
As a mother, I believe parents should have a meaningful voice in decisions affecting their children’s health, access to clear and trustworthy medical information, and the freedom to ask questions and make informed choices in consultation with qualified healthcare professionals. We should demand transparency from the institutions responsible for our food and healthcare, rigorous scientific evidence for public-health recommendations, and better support for women navigating pregnancy, infertility, and the early years of motherhood.
President Trump’s administration is giving families the knowledge, resources, and support they need to raise healthy children and build healthier futures.
The Radical Left is on the Rise
If you’re unconvinced by President Trump’s historic victories. At the very least, consider what the political left is proposing for our nation.
The Democratic Party has undoubtedly kowtowed to the most radical members and ideas within its coalition. The Democratic Socialists of America are on the rise in our country, with over 130 DSA-backed candidates on the ballot next week.
The DSA explicitly calls for abolishing Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the Senate, and the Electoral College. It advocates universal rent control, public ownership of major corporations and essential industries, and a 32-hour workweek with no reduction in pay or benefits.
These are not minor adjustments to government policy. They represent substantial changes to our economic system and political institutions.
Voters should ask what these proposals would mean in practice.
Take housing. Almost everyone agrees that housing has become too expensive. Young Americans should not need a trust fund, a six-figure income, or extraordinary luck to imagine owning a home.
But how do we create more affordable housing?
Strict rent controls discourage new construction, reduces the incentive to maintain existing properties, and make housing harder to find in the long run. If we want more affordable homes, we need free market policies that encourage builders to build, communities to grow, and supply to meet demand.
A policy that promises lower rents but discourages the construction of new homes risks worsening the very shortage it claims to solve.
The same questions apply to a shorter workweek with full pay.
Who would not enjoy an extra day off? The idea sounds wonderful until we ask how it would work for a family-owned restaurant, a childcare center, a small medical practice, or a local shop operating on narrow margins.
Some employers may be able to reorganize their operations and absorb higher staffing costs. Others may struggle to do so. A universal mandate could place disproportionate pressure on smaller businesses, potentially leading to higher prices, reduced services, fewer hires, or closures.
If politicians promise sweeping changes, they should explain how those changes will work for the people who must implement them.
And what about public ownership of major industries? Who would make the decisions? How would those institutions be held accountable? What protections would exist against political favoritism, waste, and bureaucratic failure?
These are basic questions citizens should ask whenever the government seeks more power over the economy.
Socialism is Incompatible with American Excellence
America was founded on a revolutionary idea: that our rights come from God, not government, and that every individual deserves the freedom to pursue opportunity, build a business, own property, practice their faith, and determine the course of their own life.
Our nation was built by Americans willing to work, take risks, innovate, and sacrifice for the promise that their children could have a better future. That promise is fundamentally at odds with a political philosophy that places greater control over our economy and our lives in the hands of the state.
Socialism sells the promise of equality, but we should ask what it costs when the government gains more power over what we earn, what we own, and how we live.
America’s answer to hardship has never needed to be the surrender of individual liberty. It should be expanding opportunity, rewarding hard work, encouraging entrepreneurship, strengthening families, and removing unnecessary barriers to success.
We can care for our neighbors without making the government responsible for every aspect of our lives. We can pursue a fairer society without sacrificing the freedom that makes prosperity and innovation possible.
The American Dream is not the promise that the government will build your future for you; it is the promise that you will have the freedom to build it yourself.
That is the inheritance we must defend for our children: not a country that makes its citizens dependent on the state, but one that empowers them to stand on their own, live by their convictions, and pursue their God-given potential.
This Is Not the Election to Sit Out
The midterms may not have the spectacle of a presidential election, but their consequences are enormous.
So read the candidates’ positions. Learn what offices they are seeking and what those offices can actually do. Distinguish between campaign rhetoric and policies that lawmakers actually plan to implement. And then vote.
Check your registration, polling location, voting hours, and applicable deadlines through official election sources. Registration rules vary by state, so do not assume you still have time to register or that your usual voting arrangements remain unchanged.
For the 2026 general election, Election Day is Tuesday, November 3.
If you believe unborn life deserves protection, make that conviction count at the ballot box. If you believe parents deserve a voice in their children’s education, vote accordingly. If you believe immigration laws should be enforced, religious liberty protected, and the American Dream made achievable again, look carefully at the candidates who will help shape those policies.
And if you are disappointed in the politicians who claim to represent you, remember that the answer is to hold them accountable, not to surrender your voice.
I am voting Republican because I believe faith, family, freedom, personal responsibility, and economic opportunity are worth defending, and because I believe the policies we elect representatives to pursue matter.
America is worth showing up for. And as Ronald Reagan famously warned, freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction.
This November, let’s make sure the next generation inherits a country worth believing in.
After graduating from notoriously leftwing UC Berkeley in 2020, Jayme founded The Conservateur to serve and represent conservative women. Jayme’s previous work experience in the conservative movement includes the United States Senate, the Trump Campaign, the Trump White House, and Fox News. Jayme now lives with her husband, Drake Franklin, and their daughter, Vivienne, in Washington, DC.
