Seeking Generation Next: What Can Republicans Do to Recruit the Future?
By D.J. Spiker | Saturday, February 27th, 2010 | UncategorizedBrian and I attending a forum assembled this morning by the leadership of the Virginia Beach Republican City Committee. The original topic was to be how can party leaders effectively court, recruit and involve 20+, 30+ and 40+ year olds into the party. An issue with today’s meeting was there were far too many people outside the age range we’re focusing on, so instead of a focused set of ideas, we got a shotgun blast variety, including utilizing Uncle Sam ‘We Want YOU’ to bring young people to ‘fight’.
While discussion quickly devolved from that into what to do with individuals once they’ve begun being involved, I thought it might be a worthy discussion for us as a collective group. Our primary reader makeup is in the range we’re targeting, so what are your thoughts?
How best can we as a party, or we as conservatives court, recruit and involve Generation X and Generation Next? Is branding ourselves ‘Republicans’ hurting this cause?
Look forward to a lively discussion, I’ll include my thoughts as well further below!
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Clowns to the left of me, jokers to the right...entrenched on the right as a member of the Establishment, proudly tattooed member of the Republican Party, bartender by trade serving both sides the libations needed to continue the debate and discourse. College student, ten years late, majoring in Public Policy and Administration with an eye to serving the conservative and Republican movement in the public or private sector. ducit amor patriae You can find D.J.on facebook, Twitter, or contact via email at gosport.conservative@gmail.com. You can find D.J.on facebook, Twitter, or contact via email at gosport.conservative@gmail.com.
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55 Responses to "Seeking Generation Next: What Can Republicans Do to Recruit the Future?"
As you know you are an exception to the rule of the Republican Party right now. Communication is a good start I think. I have a lot of young Republican friends who want to get involved and the solutions that came out, Facebook, Twitter, text, that young people use need to be in place and now will. Of course in my mind nothing will ever take the place of friendship and relationship to get people involved. Why don’t you and your Young Republican leaders unite with a core leadership board and come up with your own ideas you think will work and let the “old foggies” do everything possible to help and support you? While I think it is a good idea to start somewhere and David is forward thinking enough to see the ranks need new blood, if the meeting today included too many “not in the age range” and you didn’t like the result, this is the only solution I can think of. Maybe you, Chris, Brian, and some others can brainstorm before the next meeting with the “old foggies”. I personally have made it clear I want young people to join my Women Club. I don’t like being one of the youngest women there!
Here’s an idea – how about publicizing when events like this are being held. Sure glad this 35 year old who runs this site was informed…not.
Whatever.
But I digress – it’s pretty simple actually.
Is what you’re doing meaningful?
Are you friendly and inviting?
Do you communicate using all the tools available?
Do you follow up with them?
Is it fun?
Are you making a difference?
Not rocket science.
I can’t believe y’all dissed me. Damn.
J.R., don’t feel dissed honey, I got invited 15 minutes before the meeting only because I went to the breakfast at Crown Plaza. If I had known, I would have brought a young black woman who is a dynamic Republican and a 21 year old Philippine/American Republican who wants to be a Delegate with me. I am embarrassed we are lacking in diversity. This a big factor why we aren’t attracting the younger generation today!
Kathy,
I knew I was running the risk of endangering myself with that one haha. I appreciate the benefit of a variety of point of views, but by and large the ideas today were sporadic at best. The conversation in my opinion more turned in to how can we get new people to City Committee meetings, not how do we get them involved period. I would never bring a friend of mine who is not politically active to a City Committee meeting in Virginia Beach, Norfolk or Chesapeake. They are too dry and too downright boring. Portsmouth is at least self-deprecating and tries not to take itself too seriously. But pushing board appointment opportunities, involving elementary schools for recruitment, these things were all over the board and did nothing to solve what I interpreted to be the primary reason for the meeting: how do we get Generation X and Generation Next involved.
JR,
No intention on dissing you. I was invited as Chairman of the YRs, most of the people in the room today were in leadership roles in the cities, on committees, YRs and CRs. However, you’re right and next time (if there is one) we’ll be sure to include you. Apparently it is rocket science because we spent two hours talking largely about nothing and certainly no meaningful solutions. The problem is promotion and getting people over the political activism hump. Assume all the answers to your questions were yes. There has to be promotion of the party, which is where we fail in this area.
The best idea that came out of the group were promoting the groups and organizations at public events, concerts and the like. When the group ran off the rails in the first fifteen minutes (‘i’m not worried about the 18-25 year olds cause they won’t be there’ and yes that’s a direct quote) I stopped trying to put in my two cents.
Kathy, you may be right, this may be an issue that we as young professionals have to take up. One of the reasons I’m soliciting involvement from our readers here
Thank you D.J. for “getting” my point. I am surrounded by people of my generation on fire and passionate about the Republican Party principles. You are the direct influence on your own generation. I am here to help in anyway you wish. So is David and many others. God Bless.
Having formerly (1998-2005) been a member of the Virginia Beach Republican City Committee and in that age (45) group, I certainly have some thoughts.
The most important thing is that people need to feel they’re making a difference. You don’t volunteer simply to handout sample ballots on Election Day and do lit drops. You want to change things in your community and beyond. Whether it means putting them on a committee of the unit party, getting them a board or commission appointment, etc., they’re not going to stay unless they feel they’re accomplishing something. If they don’t, there are always other volunteer opportunities with other organizations.
Henry, you have a sense of civic duty, something that my/our generation doesn’t always have. How do you get them to the point of joining a committee or putting them on a board? What gets someone who doesn’t have a sense of duty or wants to make a difference, they just want to meet like-minded people
I’d have to disagree with you DJ. Our generation volunteers and performs community service projects at a rate higher than any other before us. The problem with the youth cohort is that they’re put off by the negative aspects of politics and the corupt sterotype it brings. A good book to consult is “A New Engagement?: Political Participation, Civic Life, and the Changing American Citizen” by Cliff Zukin, et al.
Youth have no problem with civic engagement; they’ve simple re-defined it.
“What gets someone who doesn’t have a sense of duty or wants to make a difference, they just want to meet like-minded people”
You could start by putting together a YR ski trip instead of dragging them to a GOB prayer service at the Plaza.
The list of things young people can do isn’t in the TOP 10 ways to spend a weekend: Walk neighborhoods, telemarketing, stuff envelopes.
I ain’t old, and I ain’t young, but dragging me to a city committee meeting or a weekly breakfast is about as likely as getting me to do yoga. I could do it, but it would be painful.
Meetings aren’t fun. The Parties (both of them) have nothing for people to do, young or old, except menial campaign labor.
I’m much more interested in having young people networked to the party than anything else.
I like the Noblemen and Noblewomen strategy. Make it fun and make a difference for a common cause and good. Then find the leaders to lead out of the ones that show up. Check it out my young Republican friends: http://www.thenoblemen.org/.
No offense, but if all you are looking for is to recruit the rich kids of GOBbers, why not hold your meetings down at the country club? The problem both parties are having is they don’t want to be bothered by the average Joe, except on election day. Sowing a new crop of future old geezers won’t change anything because the people no longer trust parties and their political opportunists. All the networking toys in the world won’t do squat if no one is on the list.
Darrell, you say no offense but you’ve clearly got some animosity towards something. Didnt get the GOB prayer service, but i think i got it with GOBbers, Good Ole Boys?
I don’t want rich kids of Good Ole Boys. I’m not a rich kid, nor was my father a Good Ole Boy. I want individuals who want to think conservative, vote conservative and be conservative. I’m a leader within the party, and it is my duty to get Republicans elected, to facilitate that the best I can, and courting 20, 30 and 40 years olds helps.
Your reference to elitism is a bit off the mark in this area, few of the individuals I know in the Republican party, including millionaires, are elitist. I don’t feel like I’m ‘bothered’ by the average Joe, nor have I gotten that feeling from others.
You do make one valid point, all the networking ‘toys’ in the world won’t do anything if you can’t find the individuals first.
I’m 20, so I feel like I have something to offer here.
1) Define party. It’s very rare that you’ll find someone like me, who’s actually interested in the party structure at my tender age. So if you’re trying to get young people plugged into the unit committee apparatus, it ain’t happening (at least not until we get middle-aged). As Brian said above, “Meetings aren’t fun.” Successful youth movements don’t thrive in municipal buildings. They thrive on the soccer field, on the ski slopes, in community. This generation is all about community, and community is not built by attending a boring meeting for an hour a month. It’s worse when nothing actually happens at the meeting except the old people yammering on about how awful Obama is and how we’re going to hell in a handbasket and there aren’t any solutions offered. We seem to be good at that as a party, but I digress.
2) This is going to be unpopular in many circles, including my own, but this is what I see. The conservatives of my generation are fiscal conservatives before we are social conservatives. (There are exceptions, of course, but at my conservative university, this is what I see.) The status quo GOP position on gay marriage is currently a loser moving into the future. Does that mean we give up that position? No… but it does mean that as the GOP seeks to involve young people, it must project itself as fiscally conservative first. Once young people are in the party, then they can be “converted” into social conservatives as well. But shouting about the gays is counterproductive.
3) Frankly, politics turns people cynical, especially the politics within RPV. Sorry. Young people are idealistic and are thus especially vulnerable to this cynicism. The reason youth flocked to Obama was because he offered something different than the same; he gave a reason not to be cynical; he offered “change we can believe in.” We need massive turnover within our structure – change we can believe in, if you will. For example, unit chairmen around here are way too protective of their power; this breeds cynicism. What’s the point in trying to effect change if you’re going to be blocked by someone who’s been in power for ages and doesn’t show any signs of giving it up? The military has a promote-or-out policy, which might be useful for RPV. It’s how they get fresh blood. There’s no opportunity for advancement within our structure (without coups at mass meetings, which brings in that cynicism again). The only way you get turnover within RPV is by being a voting member in the structure, and that sends us back to Point 1; nobody wants to be in the structure.
Darrell,
Traditionally the biggest factor in determining party alleigance was income. However, over the past generation it has become religious service attendance. While there are still country club Republicans, the “rich Republican” stereotype is largely a thing of the past.
I myself served on City Committee for 7 years while a po’ folk. One of my running jokes is that my sole concession to bourgeois society is an occassional Starbucks Vanilla Bean Venti.
D.J.,
Your comments touch at a point I brought up when Virginia Beach expanded it’s City Committee in 2000. Young people have largely had it good. From 1983-2008 we had a quarter century of economic expansion, so the young had little concept of what hard times were until the recession hit in 2008. (Ask someone under 40 what Odd-Even Gas Rationing was.) As such, they expected instant gratification.
If there’s an upside to the recession, hopefully it will produce some outlook and attitude adjustments.
Samuel makes some great points. Although I have some minor disagreements on his 2nd point, he touches on something there. Our problems today are fiscal in nature. Even those that don’t believe in gay marriage and see homosexuality itself as going against God, are not going to sit for outright gay bashing. Victimizing a minority for power or “kicks” makes you look like a coward. Taking the approach that government should not be a part of marriage(a religious matter of churches before God) and only have Govt. to honor/enforce civil contracts between couples might make for a palatable situation for all. That way you don’t have to personally honor couples that are gay, and you don’t have a government that will honor or condemn it……ever. You also will no longer be haunted by the arguement of end of life decisions when someone’s life partner can’t be there for the last moments of a gay person’s life and make the appropriate decisions. And since when are gay adults not able to enter into contracts just because, you don’t approve of the person they love. To me that just really smacks of cowardly victimization whether you approve of their lifestyle or not.
Social conservatism should be forwarded by a cultural approach, not a legislative one. When you open the door to legislate Christianity, due to a majority, you open the door to legislating secular atheism when someone else is in power. (see political correctness) The young are idealists. Either you have a constitution that protects ALL of us and EVERYONE or you have mob rule governed by Good O’ Boy tyrants.
The same goes for the BS where certain conservatives feel it to be ok to victimize and belittle as stupid, people of faith. I expect that from the Democrats.
I have been shocked by the religious intolerance by some in the GOP. Good for the Goose, good for the gander…. Don’t tell the social conservatives not to do something, when you can’t follow your own freakin’ advice! More mob rule governed by who is in power at the time. All this bickering and backstabbing among groups that are political allies on 80% of the issues is just idiotic flexing of egos.
Samuel’s point about idealism and cynicism in point three, also has merit. I would add to that by saying if you CLAIM to be a proponent of conservatism, but put up candidates that favor “Big Government” tax & spend policies, are weak on social issues, AND endorse Democrats, their “BS Detectors” will be reading off the charts. When it gets SOOO bad that you have more RINOs in office than conservatives, your silly little oaths of party loyalty look like pitiful attempts to retain the power of your “Team” rather than principle. In such a case you have no principle, so why shouldn’t the young be cynical?
I really think Samuel hit on a major factor in his point #2. I’m 22 and I know I completely agree with him. It’s not that I’m not socially conservative, but I put much more emphasis on being fiscally conservative. I know many friends of mine who are fiscally conservative and socially moderate who participate in Dem groups because the GOP doesn’t focus enough on being fiscally conservative and they feel put out. So not only is the GOP not engaging likely young Republicans but they’re even pushing them to align with Dems.
The other thing that I think pushes away the younger generations, and I’m speaking from my own personal experiences, is the idea of strict party loyalty. I think young people want to be able to disagree on some issues but still align with the party. The problem here is that a lot of the people (and I’m generalizing, I realize) involved in things like the city committees or RPV basically kick you out of the party if you so much as utter your disagreement. Republicans are notorious for eating their own and I think that turns away young people who want to say they’re a Republican but not be a blind drone in the party. They want to be able to think for themselves but still agree with some basic tenants of conservatism. The GOP has to stop expecting this type of blind party loyalty. It gives the appearance of being closed-minded. There has to be some flexibility where individual members feel free to disagree with a few points or issues and feel comfortable to do it publicly without being exiled.
Perhaps the American Majority could be of help to the local Republican Party.
See http://sunshinereview.org/index.php/American_Majority
http://hamptonroads.com/2010/02/local-tea-party-plans-boost-its-activities
DJ – Having sat at that table yesterday and heard all opinions involved, I agree with the points that you are making. My point yesterday was that the DEM’s are a very open armed, welcoming committee and the GOP is not.
Going on Alyse’s point, often the GOP push “on the fence” folks across the aisle for the simple reason that they do not fit into our idea of what a Republican truly is. I say let’s not forget our core values but learn to embrace those people that may not be a perfect fit.
The Tea Party movements came into being on the basis of fiscal conservatism. They have drawn fiscal conservatives from both major parties as well as from previously disaffected independent groups regardless of their social views. In the words of one member I saw interviewed on CNN..”The Republican party left us, we didn’t leave the party. They have to come back to us because we aren’t going to chase them.”
Social conservatism should be relegated to a plank in the platform, but should not be perceived as a litmus test for classifying a voter as “Conservative” or “Progressive”. Republicans should be assimilating lessons from these independent movements because based on recent polls, that is where the bulk of the voting public is currently moving, young and old.
Another point to what Brian said, Republicans should be reaching out much more using collaborative social networks. Instead of trying to pull everyone together for a weekly breakfast, you either add a virtual aspect to the breakfast for outside participants, or conduct Republican get togethers as virtual events where more of them can be held and more people can participate.
Of course there may be an issue of official business which should not be not publically available, but this can be handled by establishing “Virtual Business Rules” that caveat when virtual sessions are available.
Of course there isn’t a replacement for a handshake and a direct conversation, but Republicans have to make it much easier to participate with all the tools that are becoming available and that a younger generation considers a necessary part of their lives.
no one mentioned young candidates.
hey, I voted for McCain (& let’s leave out all RINO references), but I think his age turned off alot of young people. Then Bambi was trying to be extra-special hip so he got a big chunk of the youth vote.
and make it fun. different venues, themes, food, drink.
Tim: I appreciate the thought, but we’re not going to sit on the Internet for an hour and watch a webcam of old people eating breakfast and yammering on about how awful Obama is. The meeting model itself is broken. Why can’t the CRs put a team in the college’s IM League? That’ll pull in some people wouldn’t go to a meeting; then (if we’re in an election year) after the game, someone mentions “Hey, we’re doing phonebanking for Bill Bolling tomorrow” – they’ll be far more likely to do a phonebank after having had a “fun” connection with the party.
Too often the first contact with the party is the phonebank or, worse, the boring meeting. There’s not usually tangible benefits on the phonebank and certainly not the meeting. There are tangible benefits – fun; community; winning the game – attached to the IM game.
Tim J,
On social conservatism:
“Social Conservatism…should not be perceived as a litmus test for classifying a voter as ‘Conservative’ or ‘Progressive’.”
So basically we should embrace the philosophy of Karl Marx and see the entire world through the lenses of economics?
On new technology and personalization:
Agree with you 100%
Elect Scott Taylor June 8th. Locally, this will be the best way to get the younger generation involved.
Jared, please leave your zealotry for another post. Rather than a stupid ‘elect Scott Taylor’ comment, you should have pointed out how Scott Taylor IS a younger candidate. However, simply pointing to him and say elect this young guy will not bring young people into te process. This thread is for specific ideas.
Samuel, I love the IM team idea, something I’m going to talk to the ODU CR chair about next time I talk to him.
So collectively, making sure I’m understanding this, everyone feels the philosophical side of the party is close-minded or divisive to younger people? I agree about city committees and people railing against Obama/Reid/Pelosi.
I’d argue in my personal belief that social values are fodder for the previous Republican generation. While I certainly will not support a liberal candidate, nor will I support a campaign of someone running on a family values, pro-life, anti-gay message as well for that exact reason. If this is the trite being spewed in city committee meetings and regular Republican meetings (not ones I’ve seen around here at least thankfully) then of course we’re alienating a generation.
Younger or outside the box candidates is another great point, look at Ron Villaneuva in Virginia Beach and what he brought out in the community as a City Council candidate as well as a House of Delegates candidate.
I am a little confused about the criticism on the RPV as an organization. 99 times out 100 you will never participate in RPV politics or elections, with the obvious exception of Jeff Frederick last year. I do agree that Republicans have a tendency to eat their own, look at the 8th State Senate race last year and the tail end of the Attorney General nomination fight.
Republicans would be better off listening to Ronald Reagan, someone I agree with 70% is my friend, and speaking ill about another Republican. Regardless of what Reagan did against Ford (Brian
) in this generation if we are going to bridge that gap to my generation, it needs to be followed.
As chairman of the ODU CR’S I think that Samuel has an interesting idea!
We need to show the avergae college age studet/ young person that we can be a party of “yes” ourselves. Theres a lot of work that needs to be done with many of the local city committee meetings to make the memebrs be more accepting of the younger generations.
The regular bussiness meetings of our organizations need to have fun activites mixed it, so that people will want to invite there friends. Its amazing how many people came out when Bob came to ODU for the football game. By having fun activites with energetic leadership, we will countinue our path to leadership
SteveO, you say “So basically we should embrace the philosophy of Karl Marx and see the entire world through the lenses of economics?”
No, history shows that economics drive and control social systems. In the case of Socialism, the economic and social system drivers eventually become reversed where economic systems are “transformed” as a result of social policies which then become the drivers of fiscal and economic policy and actions. Think “redistribution of income”, “Stimulus Package” and the list is growing. As I mentioned previously, economics is a main driver of how people feel today about their politics.
Karl Marx is old school Communism that the previous generation of people are afraid of. Even though Marx laid the foundations for radical progressive philosophy, Saul Alinsky updated and recast the philosophy to another level in “Rules for Radicals” and profiled this new approach in one of his quotes ” The greatest enemy of individual freedom is the individual himself.”
So, if we dwell on the aspects of the social “purity” to filter individuals as to whether they are conservative enough, the Republican party will be steam rolled by fiscal conservatives. Government is attacking us at the fiscal and economic levels right now, and we need to have fiscal and economic responses that galvanize the will of the people against them. If Government is successful, the next step will be a social “transformation”
Gerald Ford and Thomas Jefferson share a quote: “A government that is big enough to give you everything you want is big enough to take everything away.”
Samuel nails it here- last month I spent a week with a crowd of young conservatives (many of them called themselves “little l libertarians”) and I think his point #2, while unpopular with folks over 40, is critical.
~40-yr-old fiscally conservative Chicken
Tim J,
The case can be made both ways to say that belief systems and social systems control economics. Go to India and you will find that their social systems play a big role in their economic status.
I would also argue that there are many factors that play into people’s political allegiances. I am not disputing that economics are always going to be a big part of the national dialogue, however, elections are not won on any one branch or philosophy. Elections are won by getting your coalition to show up to the polls. I do not think it would be wise to “relegate” social conservatives any more than it would be wise to relegate fiscal conservatives. A well rounded message is what works and resonates with the American people, it is not about “priorities,” rather it is about broad themes that your coalition can unite under. These themes are centered on certain belief systems (i.e. limited government, fiscal responsibility, Life, traditional values, etc…). This allows you to bring your coalition to the table.
This does not mean that one has to obsess over one or two specific issues, however, you make sure that the various elements of your coalition will be able to withstand the pressures of an election and turn out on election day. If we minimize the importance of social issues, we run the risk of alienating a significant voting bloc that has proven to make or break elections. Consider also that a recent WaPo poll showed that only 15% of Republicans and Republican leaning independents consider themselves to be Fiscally conservative to the exclusion of social conservatism. You will find that your most socially conservative congressman also tend to be fiscal conservatives. It is very possible for someone to be fiscally conservative and socially progressive. I am not in favor of excluding social progressives from the party, however, they should not take socially progressive themes and try to peddle them off as “personal liberty.”
The argument is not over rights denied, but rather whether new and erroneous rights should be granted. It is also possible for someone to be socially conservative and fiscally progressive. Personally I would prefer someone who is solidly conservative on both counts, however, some conservatives, who actually have time to blog, would prefer social progressivism, which might I remind you, in the end, leads to big government.
Lastly, if we downplay our party’s socially conservative planks, we may lose any hope we once harbored of winning among minority voters, who put value on moral issues. Just observe the number of Hispanic voters that a socially silent McCain got in comparison to the kind of numbers that President Bush got when presenting both a fiscally and socially conservative campaign message.
The one thing that I would say that would be helpful is to make it easier to find out more. I know that we are in the world of social networking and honestly that is how I found out about Ches YR, but I have been very interested in getting involved and perhaps attending a meeting, but don’t know anyone and certainly don’t want to feel like that one who is there and saying “…uh is this is the right place”.
It would be helpful, if there was a way to have something either on FB or a website that is a link that says “contact me/ get involved” and then have someone that that can email you or let you know information about the things that are coming up, different than just a random post, that would be nice. If I have questions about something there is not really anyone to talk to, so I end up doing something else, instead of getting involved. (If there is something like that, and I missed it, I am sorry) It just seems that if you all are talking about wanting to get new people try to be less exclusive and don’t make those that are interested jump through hoops to get involved.
SteveO, agreed that there are a multitude of factors that go into political affiliations, however, if you don’t have a job, can’t get a job, or you are upside down on your mortgage, or you are being forced to move because of a combination of employment or financial reasons, the factors quickly converge on priorities of survival and you affiliate more closely with those who are in your same circumstance.
Speaking of Hispanic voters, there was no outreach by the McCain ticket to this huge and growing block of voters. George Bush spoke Spanish, McCain didn’t so there was a cultural gap from the beginning. I’ve heard, for example, that there may be as many as 30,000 registered Hispanic voters in the 2nd district. The party should reach out to Hispanics and involve them in building towards the next generation.
While this may be the case in the 2nd, I live in the 5th. Everything is political here. You can’t stay within the party apparatus very long without becoming loyal to somebody. Perhaps the 5th’s internal politics is atypical of RPV as a whole – I certainly hope so.
All: It’s important not to misunderstand my point. I’m not saying we “relegate” social conservatism. Despite the fact that I’m pushing an emphasis on fiscal conservatism at the moment, anyone who knows me well knows that my main goal for my political career is ending the scourge of abortion. Taking the solid pro-life position is an important part of what we believe as a party, and that is something on which youth are beginning to come around to our position.
We don’t tailor our principles for the times; we do, however, tailor our message. If I were running for Congress, my basic stump speech probably wouldn’t mention the word “abortion” – that’s not what Joe SixPack is concerned about at the moment. He’s concerned about our fiscal situation. My platform certainly would mention my pro-life credentials, and my “long-form” speech would too. But at the end, we’ve got to push fiscal conservatism as a front porch right now. When things are good, people’s minds tend to gravitate to social issues, and that’s when our front porch becomes pro-life, traditional marriage, family values.
This is tangential to the post, but since it’s been brought up, I might as well talk about it. When we say that our minority outreach programs (if we ever actually do them) should be centered around social issues because that’s where “they” agree with us, we do ourselves and the groups a huge disservice. Certainly, there’s some ideological overlap. African-American voters, which vote as a monolithic bloc for Democrats, were instrumental in the passage of Proposition 8. But why don’t we talk up our fiscal planks too? The emphasis on social issues clearly isn’t working. The idea that we can go in and say, “Hey, y’all don’t like abortion! We don’t like abortion either! We should be on the same team!” simply doesn’t work. If the African-Americans who voted Yes on Prop. 8 voted the rest of their ballot on social issues, they’d be Republicans. Unfortunately, they’re not. How do we fix this?
Let’s give African-American and Hispanic voters the same message we give all the other voters: a heavy dose of fiscal conservatism. The message should be, “We trust you to spend your money better than we trust the government to spend your money.” A “we trust you” should go a long way toward a group that’s been patronized and demagogued and taken for granted by the Democrats. Let’s be real, the Democrats are the only people who even pay lip service to the African-American community; what if we came in with more than lip service?
It’s going to be more difficult with Hispanics, despite the fact that we currently pull in better vote percentages. Our law-and-order approach to illegal immigration simply doesn’t help. Don’t misunderstand, I don’t suggest we abandon that policy. But we can’t be demagogues about the issue. If we’re perceived as xenophobic, that turns off young people (I knew I would get back to young people), so that we’re not only hurting ourselves among Hispanics, we’re hurting ourselves among my age group. I would suggest that we emphasize America as a land of opportunity, but as a land of orderly opportunity. Demagoguery about making the official language English and building fences doesn’t help us get to that goal. Explaining why there should be common-sense immigration restrictions (because we don’t want to create a glut in the labor market that would strain our social safety net), even if we don’t convince Hispanics, at least shows that we’re operating in good-faith, not out of xenophobia. This nullifies the impact that our law-and-order position has on youth.
The unanswered question is, why does law-and-order immigration policy turn off youth? The answer is that this generation cares about people. It’s why our current position on gay marriage is a loser – people my age just want gay people to be happy; there’s no need for vilification. (Not to mention that as homosexuality becomes more socially acceptable, people are coming out at younger ages; my generation has been hanging out with gays since we were in high school. So when the caricatures of gay people are presented, the BS-meter goes through the roof: “My buddy Jordan is gay and he’s not walking down the streets of San Francisco dressed only in a pink boa for the gay pride parade. He’s just like me, except he likes dudes and I like girls.”) It’s why our position on abortion is a winner as long as we keep up the education efforts that it’s not just a blob of tissue, it’s a baby – we care about the baby. (We also care about the mother, which is why supporting single mothers is crucial.) It’s why our law-and-order immigration position is a loser – we care about the person, not the caricature. We put ourselves in the shoes of the illegal immigrant and realize that he’s just trying to get a better life for his family; put in his position, we’d jump the border too. Rightly or wrongly, that’s the way it is.
I’m going to shut up now and let people comment, but it’s important to remember that when we’re talking about tailoring our message for youth, the answer is not, “Let’s just use Facebook!” Facebook is a means to an end, it’s not the end itself. We have to put the focus on people: how does this policy benefit our community? Remember that we’re focused on community; we want the entire community to do well. So when we put up our Facebook note about illegal immigration, we say, “These policies might seem harsh, but here are the reasons behind them: [talk about glut of labor, then say] we can’t care for our immigrants as a community [not as a government, mind, this is private charity and business I'm talking about] if we’re overwhelmed by them. Sensible restrictions allow us to introduce people to our society in an orderly manner that’s beneficial to everyone.” Doesn’t that sound a lot better than: “We need to keep out the Mexicans because they’re stealing our jobs!” Regardless of whether or not we actually say that, that’s the perception, and perception is reality. It’s not a community-oriented policy, therefore, it fails to persuade youth.
My biggest concern is the fact that as a youth I have seen our generation shunned.
1. Is the Republican party serious about this?
As a young professional and a minority I often see myself as the only one in age and race in attendance on campaign staffs and events. However for the discussion, let’s just stick to age right!
2. Any all current races, do we have any ‘PARTY BACKED’ young professionals? Not that I can see!
3. Will the republicans retire the cliche ‘GET SOME MORE EXPERIENCE’ I recently attended a conference in California for one of the largest Not-For-Profits in the world. I was by far the youngest in attendance at the entire conference, and when I asked our National Chairman, will young professionals be added to the board, there were smirks and laughs amongst the audience.
This also included my reference to an earlier comment where a speaker said that no young professionals were on her board because “THEY LACK EXPERIENCE AND BRING NOTHING TO THE TABLE”
As a young professional that has been involved in statewide, congressional, local, political and community campaigns, a member of two regional boards and a consultant for 8 clients, I have to ask….
Is the party going to pay lip service to young professionals or take this matter seriously?
Because if it is going to be taken seriously….
1. Invite Generation X’ers to attend these meetings (both open and closed at times)
2. Invite Them to speak
3. Actually listen to them
4. Target them in campaigning, why is it nobody believes young people can give money? (Somebody made JAY Z rich it wasn’t the seniors)
5. RUN THEM!!!!!!!!!!
There are only two real ways for conservatives to really gain the youth vote from the progressives.
1.) More conservatives need to get into teaching. I know, I know, it’s a tired canard that public schools are liberal, but the fact remains that more and more students are being taught more and more liberal ideas in school. Specifically in history/government/civics, and English. Students are no longer really taught about the founders and why the country was made the way it was. If more students were, there would be a lot more young conservatives.
2.) Outbreed ‘em.
Someone above said that the number one indicator of party was religious involvement, but I’d counter that it’s actual the affiliation of the parent. People teach their kids what they believe. It doesn’t always happen that they agree, but more often than not if your parent is/was a conservative, you will be too.
Younger adults are given opportunities to lead in the GOP, especially in Virginia. Each state has a CR and YR leadership, with collaberating colleges (CR) and jurisdictions (YR). These organizations exist at the behest of the RNC.
As for Virginia, many former and current CR’s, YR’s work for elected officials (Each statewide office holder’s administration as well). Many have held and hold leadership positions in RPV (formal and informal) Heck the new Secretary of the Commonwealth is only about 35 or so. Another example is Mike Ginsberg, the 8th District GOP Chairman is at most 35 if not younger. Younger folks do have a seat at the table and are part of the decision making process.
The local party (VB) has for the past few years encouraged particpation and have allowed this age group to have formal leadership in the party. Of the five Vice-Chair positions, three of us are in our 30′s. A few of the formal committees have chairman in this age group as well. Chuck Smith even had a number of folks in this age group in key leadership positions when he was chairman.
I’m not sure how 35 is an impressive age. That’s half way to 70 or an AARP membership at least.
There is a dymanic and interesting factor that 20 year old somethings possess, the creators of facebook, twitter, myspace, and various technology, or other companies and even franchise owners are in their 20′s.
AS FAST as the world is changing, we have to reach every demographic. I appreciate that the ‘structured avenues’ in which 30 year old’s have participated, however, in many cases, the structures have to be adapted with the changing world, not by preference but by necessity!!!!
The key word is the recruitment which means going and finding them, not waiting for them to show up, because there are so MANY options and organizations vying for top talent.
We’re either going to take it seriously or not, I don’t just say this for 20 year olds, there are some teenagers who have the social skills, intellectual capacity, and maturity that stumps 40 year olds!
Former Dem;
Is the party going to pay lip service to young professionals or take this matter seriously?
Because if it is going to be taken seriously….
1. Invite Generation X’ers to attend these meetings (both open and closed at times)
2. Invite Them to speak
3. Actually listen to them
4. Target them in campaigning, why is it nobody believes young people can give money? (Somebody made JAY Z rich it wasn’t the seniors)
5. RUN THEM!!!!!!!!!!
My post was a response to your five points. Gen Xers are anyone born between 1965 and 1975. So now these folks are 35 to 45 (of which I am one); which is the age group of the folks I was talking about. Gen Xers are involved in the party and it is not just lip service and the party is and has accomplished your five points. So your snarky come back doesn’t make sense to me unless you got your generations mixed up and you were talking about 20 somethings, which is not Generation X!!
I thought that on Saturday, but figured I’d let it go. Hell, I am GenX. (I’m also DX, but that’s another story)
But I’m not the age we’re talking about here.
BK,
Yeah I know he probably meant 20somethings…not an easy answer, even when I was in the CR’s in my early 20′s.
Who of the 2nd District candidates now running can be considered Gen X’ers – Taylor?
“Each state has a CR and YR leadership, with collaborating colleges (CR) and jurisdictions (YR). These organizations exist at the behest of the RNC.”
CR, YR? Is that like Women’s Auxiliary? That’s part of the problem isn’t it? Some are more THE PARTY than others? The youth can’t be full members because, well they just don’t have the experience.
Seems to me the party leadership is full of it. Brian can run a campaign, well sometimes he wins, and I’m sure there are plenty of young people out there that could do a better job than the geezers who need to hang on to their past.
Too bad those leaders can’t be more like George Patton. Ole George was pompous and a legend in his own mind when it came to tank warfare. But he had the good sense to have the greatest tank commander in history spearhead his assaults. LtCol. Creighton Abrams had just turned 30 when he broke the Bastogne siege. He would be lucky to man a phone bank with the RPV.
I don’t know Taylor’s age (late 20′s I guess). The official Gen X age range is 1961 to 1981 (since researched); which would be 49 to 29, so he might be on the cusp of it. Glenn Davis (VB City Council is in that age range), Ron Villanueva, Jeff Frederick
, granted it is not alot, and these guys are in their early to mid 30′s, but I think you are going to be hard pressed to run someone in their 20′s.
Most college graduates are 22 or so when the graduate (not saying its required to run for office, but it helps), if you go to graduate or law school you are 24/25. Not alot of time to gain enough experience to convince the gatekeepers you can win an election. Let’s be serious, in the VB GOP, we can run our pick of candidates, since we are solidly GOP in this area. A 27 to 28 year old junior lawyer or business person, is not going to compare well to a middle aged law partner, CEO, etc. The experience level is not there.
I do know that 20 somethings can get elected, but that is an exception to the norm.
Darrell, how are the CRs and YRs not full members of the RNC or the Party? Think of the RNC as a tree. The YRs, CRs, Women’s Clubs are all branches of that tree. They’re don’t directly report to the RNC but they’re all part of the same coalition.
TimJ, Taylor would really be the only candidate who could be considered a GenXer IMO yes.
Former Dem, are you saying we should run candidates in their 20s just to be able to say we can/have? Glenn Davis was what, 35, 36 when he ran and won for City Council in VB? But there is an accumulation of experience and knowledge that life provides over time. Not saying that people in their 20s and inexperienced, hell, I’ve been approached informally to run before. I just know this isn’t my time yet. I don’t disagree with your sentiment by any means, of running younger people.
Great ideas posted, thanks for sharing. I don’t think just having a younger or older leader is the answer. More importantly, Republicans should focus on the individual person and what they bring to the table. I definitely think putting Scott Taylor in office in the 2nd District will encourage more young Republicans to get involved. He has energy and it radiates to people listening. That is what we need, leaders that are natural born leaders. I listened to another candidate, and the energy is so forced, it just isn’t natural. It’s hard to get behind that. My younger son said something to me after the Tea Party rally this weekend, he said I think the Republican Party is going to be extinct one day. He said, Mom look around, they really need to start looking to the next generation. I was really surprised this view point came from my teenager. I thought more about what he said, and realized that he was right. Older Republicans are an extreme asset to younger Republicans, but I think they really have to start embracing younger voters and start taking them seriously. I like Kelley’s ideas-make it fun, different venues, themes, food, and drink.
I don’t think it is really about the age, it’s about their life experiences.
There needs to be more mentoring within the Republican Party. I hope all older than 50 is reading this. Who will step up and mentor the young to take over? We aren’t going to be here forever. Experience is great, but how will they get experience without the chance?
Darrell,
The CR’s (College Republicans) and YR’s (Young Republicans) are formal organizations sanctioned and and recognized by the RNC. Each one has national leadership, each state has leadership and then the member clubs.
I went to a training as a CR at RPV and it was equated this way using a baseball analogy. The main party is the major leagues. YR’s are Triple A and CR’s are Double A. It is way to groom the next generation of leaders in the GOP.
I don’t believe it is sound strategy to elect a younger guy, just so a certian age group can be appealed to either.
It’s also important to note that the average age of the 2nd district is 31 (it might be 33, I’m not 100%).
Give our generation a reason to vote and we’ll astound you with our resolve. But if you give us more of the same stuffy old “politics-as-usual” then we’ll put our time and energy to better uses.
BTW. Simply using Facebook and Twitter doesn’t make you hip and new. (My grandmother has a Facebook) The GOP needs to care about young people and their votes. Most of the time, the effort itself goes a long way.
I was in a science club once. Still ain’t Carl Sagan.
You know there is another ‘coalition’, a limb of the tree so to speak, associated and recognized by the RNC don’t you? It’s called the Tea Party (read another thread earlier). They are sanctioned by the same guys that got McDonnell elected.
http://americansforprosperity.org/041409-virginia-taxpayer-tea-parties
I hate to say it, but the youth serve in the same way the Tea Party folks do. Democrat or Republican, the young are political cannon fodder expended to fire up the electorate to get the leadership’s candidate into office. After the RPV Grassroots rebellion a couple of years ago the party is looking for replacement ground troops. Eventually most of you will tire of the minor leagues and join the disillusioned independents or seek other interests.
Which is really sad because politics is about the future. Who would you rather govern your fate, a young mind attuned to the latest tools and techniques, or a senile O.B. on a power trip?
Bash me if you like, it’s ok. I’m just an old geezer who’s tired of the political BS.
Ripley,
Its dissapointing that you seem to take offense to my snarkey comment. Yep I sure do have my generations mixed up, however my points regarding Generation MY generation are totally true, the fact that we’re just now getting around to generation X says it all.
As Chris D’Ambra suggested at saturdays meeting, we should sponsor a booth at some of the local rock concerts, surfing competitions and such. Go to the places thatt the young people attend!
The tea party people are closer to the libertarian party than the republican party. They chose to seperate the social issues from the economic issues, which is pretty markist.
Instead of the constent tax too much talk, wee need to cut spending@
We need to create a BRAND image then market the hell out of it. We need to make our groups something special for people to be a member of and offer some type of value. That value can range from networking, an in with a local business leader, or just a place to contribute their efforts. We can accomplish this many ways by having events and sponsoring events. Our symbol or the groups image should say something or mean something and be attractive to all types of republicans of our generation. What that is we need to decide on.
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