On Nov. 2, voters will go to the polls to decide the future direction of this country.

“”Whether we believe in our capacity for self-government or whether we abandon the American Revolution and confess that a little intellectual elite in a far-distant capital can plan our lives for us better than we can plan them ourselves,”” is what Ronald Reagan said. That is the issue of this election.

Arizona’s 8th Congressional District is currently represented by someone who does not share the values of her constituents. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords does not deserve another term in office.

She voted for a health care bill that cuts $500 billion from Medicare, adds 16,500 new IRS agents and unconstitutionally forces every American to purchase health insurance. During a town hall-style meeting in 2009, Giffords told her constituents that she would not vote for a health care bill that did not include tort reform. She then went back to Washington and voted for a bill that did not have tort reform.

She voted for cap-and-trade, which would destroy the United States economy beyond repair. Giffords also believes it is within her power to tell you what kind of light bulbs you can have in your house, what kind of toilets you may use and how often you may run your air conditioner.

She voted for a $787 billion “”stimulus”” program that has failed to do anything but increase the national debt. She promised unemployment would not get higher than 8 percent. Currently, unemployment hovers around 10 percent while “”real unemployment”” (which considers those underemployed and those who have given up looking for a job) is close to 20 percent.

She voted to defund our border fence. She supports amnesty and opposes S.B. 1070. She has done nothing to protect the people of Arizona from illegal immigration and drug smuggling.

She voted to bail out Wall Street with taxpayer dollars on multiple occasions.

She co-sponsored “”card check.”” Giffords does not believe you have the right to a secret ballot.

She has continuously lied about her opponent’s positions on taxes and social security in an attempt to scare voters into voting for her.

Giffords is unfit to represent Congressional District 8. Thankfully, we have a choice on Tuesday. That choice is Jesse Kelly.

Jesse Kelly believes in limited government, fiscal sanity and free market solutions.

Jesse Kelly supports extending the tax cuts of 2001 and 2003 to all Americans, including small businesses. He believes if we raise taxes on employers during a recession (which is what Giffords is proposing), it will lead to a depression. He ultimately supports a 10 percent flat income tax for every American.

Jesse Kelly supports defunding — then repealing ­­— Obamacare. He believes free market solutions are best when dealing with the payment problem for the best health care system in the world. He favors tort reform, purchasing of insurance across state lines and personal health accounts.

Jesse Kelly believes in an “”all of the above”” approach to energy. He supports oil, nuclear, natural gas, wind, coal, solar, etc. He does not believe that the government should take over the industry and pick winners and losers while making prices “”necessarily skyrocket.””

Jesse Kelly believes there is no company that is “”too big to fail.”” He will not support bailouts of Wall Street and the auto industry.

Jesse Kelly will not eliminate anyone’s Social Security or Medicare. He favors a plan that will protect those who are on it or about to be on it, while giving future generations a choice as to where they invest their money.

Jesse Kelly is a businessman, marine, husband and father of two. He is not a career politician. He will not tell you one thing and then go do another. He will make a great representative for southeastern Arizona.

This Tuesday will we, as Reagan put it, “”preserve for our children this, the last best hope of man on earth, or we will sentence them to take (another) step into a thousand years of darkness””?

— Trey Terry is the communications director for the UA College Republicans and a political science undergraduate.