I think I'm guilty of trying to over simplify politics. To me, you decide which issues are most important to you, and then you find the candidate who most closely matches your views on those issues.

Are you pro-life or do you support abortion? Do you think the government should be less involved in our everyday lives or more involved? Should the government keep taxes low and find ways to cut overspending out of the budget or should they raise taxes to make up for budget shortfalls? Should we remain in Iraq and finish what we started -- no matter if you supported the war to begin with or not -- or should we pull out now, cut our losses and hope it doesn't come back to bite us in the butt. Should we drill now off our own coasts and work to develop alternative forms of energy, or should we forget drilling and just try to come up with new energy?

Of course, these aren't all the issues, but I think they are some of the most pressing in the upcoming political election.

I have been known to vote across party lines, but generally I find that my viewpoints line up with the Republican party. I am against abortion, and I think big government only creates more red tape rather than solving issues for real people. I think the government should be doing what the rest of us have to do. When there's not enough money to pay the bills, you need to find a way to lower your cost of living. The government needs to quit taking more money from our pockets and start looking for things to cut out of the budget. I'm not against raising taxes when it is really needed, but sometimes I think it's easier to just raise taxes than try to fix the root of the problem.

Democrats say they cut taxes for the "working man," but it's been my experience that if you make more than minimum wage then you're not qualified as "working man," but in with the rich -- which explains why Republicans are always accused of giving tax cuts to the rich.

I suppose the most frustrating thing for me in this election is the fact that if you're a Republican then you mindlessly agree and love everything President Bush has ever done in his eight years in office. I was against the Iraq war based on the reasons President Bush gave. I think he -- and congress -- have done a terrible time of being responsible for the government's checkbook. We're horrifically in debt.

They were good at trying to cut taxes, but they didn't cut the budget enough. I know that's hard to do when two parties are trying to work together, but I do think we need a strong president who will work to make sure those changes take place.

Again, I'm probably over simplifying things, but can someone explain to me how more taxes -- and more government spending to eat up those tax revenues -- is going to solve anything? That's like going out and getting an extra job because you're in a financial bind and then buying a bigger house with a higher mortgage payment.

And if you're faced with the choice of drilling for oil AND finding new energy sources verses just finding new energy sources, which one adds up to more homegrown fuel for us? Here's a hint: 1 + 1 = 2. 0 + 1 = 0.

See, I told you I like to keep things simple.