If only the Republican Party had not been afraid to oust Donald Trump at their convention, and if only the Billy Bush scandal had come out months ago when one of the many other qualified Republican candidates could have gotten the nomination, then just maybe there would have been a good chance that Hillary Clinton would be defeated.

Not so now.

I guess you could say Teflon Trump got caught with his pants down and isn’t that ironic since the man thinks he knows all the right sexual moves to impress a woman.

I do not know about the rest of you, but my mama and my daddy raised me smarter than to think I would need to be attracted to a man who thinks all he needs to do is grab my crotch for me to swoon.

Shame on you Donald for thinking we are just dumb little neophytes who live only to have men think of us as objects rather than equals.

I have never been a huge fan of Michelle Obama, but this week my perspective changed.

I agreed with her when she said in a speech during a campaign rally for Hillary Clinton on Thursday in New Hampshire that Trump’s behavior is not normal.

“This is not politics as usual. This is disgraceful. This is intolerable,” she said.

Obama’s words resonated even deeper with me when she said Trump’s behavior had shaken her to the core. I believe that core she was referring to was her daughters, Malia and Sasha.

Like Obama, I too have daughters, and I have worked hard to instill in them that self-worth comes from self-respect, and hopefully I have taught them that if a man insinuates you are a nothing unless you advocate to his “locker room” desires, RUN!

Many seem to, however, be brushing Trump’s behavior off, and for those folks, especially the women who are still so hard-core Trump supporters, I ask, are you saying that you are completely fine with a man groping your girl child just because he can?

If Trump were anyone else besides the Republican nominee, I feel certain all those who are willing to “forgive” his actions would be judging him instead.

In fact, I am finding it confusing to know what types of behavior from a presidential candidate are deemed forgivable and those that are not.

This year it will hurt to know I will not be able to vote for the party I have historically supported, but I have to be true to my values and an example to my girls.

I have not decided how I will cast my ballot on Nov. 8, but I do know it will not be for Donald Trump.
Terri Cowart Frazier is a staff writer at The Vicksburg Post. You may reach her at terri.frazier@vicksburgpost.com.