What kind of party do we want to be? What kind of country? Who we elect to represent us speaks volumes. It’s about more than just who will choose the next Supreme Court justices or what kind of executive agenda they’ll shove through. It speaks to who we are as a people, who we want to be. Any Republican will clearly say that Hillary is not who we want to be as a nation; we don’t want a lying criminal representing us, someone who will attack women who claim to be victims of sexual abuse at the hands of her husband or leave Americans to die at the hands of bloodthirsty terrorists. Hillary Clinton is an opportunistic liar who will always put herself first, and we know that. Is that who we want to be? Well, of course the answer is no. But what about the other supposed front-runner, Donald Trump? Ted Cruz had something to say about that at a rally today in Indiana, and it was this: don’t give in to evil.

“I believe in the people of the Hoosier state. I believe that the men and women gathered here and the goodness of the American people, that we will not give into evil but we will remember who we are and we will stand for our values.

Is voting for Trump giving in to evil? Maybe not literally, no, but it is an abandonment of our principles and our values. Trump is a loud-mouthed, obnoxious bully with authoritarian leanings. He’s a man who admires dictators and wants to be able to use the power of the government to control the media, to destroy people who oppose him, and silence any criticism. He is an obvious misogynist and philanderer, accused of rape by one of his ex-wives and with an unending stream of contempt, abuse, and sexism leveled towards women. He’s someone who encourages violence among his supporters, and happily accepts support from white supremacists.

This is who we want representing us as president? Really?

Ted Cruz doesn’t think so, and he isn’t backing down from the idea that we’re better than this. We’re better than Trump.

Are we a nation of hatred, or are we not? Conservatives have decried the divisiveness of Obama’s term as president, yet here are people on the right, supporting someone just as divisive, if not more so. And just like Obama, Trump encourages it. He fuels the flames of anger. Instead of healing the nation, he offers us more poison.

What is the character of our nation? Donald Trump isn’t who we should be as a country. Given the chance to embrace hatred and evil, we should be saying no. It may be the most difficult decision to make in recent history, but Ted Cruz is right. We can’t accept the evil. We cannot give in.