My Generation And The Gop

Being a self-professed young Republican today is about as socially acceptable as walking into a music store and asking where the cassettes can be purchased.

So bad news, fellow Republicans: our party's brand really is as in the toilet among the young as the dreaded Mainstream Media want you to believe. MTV's Entertainment Chief has, along with the New York Times' style section, proclaimed today's youth the "Obama Generation," and as irritating and hyperbolic as such declarations are, they are not without reason.

Given the dire state of the GOP among the young, it isn't too far-fetched to imagine party operatives ruminating aimlessly: Today's youth like to have Their Space, right? And once we get on that Facebook thing, we'll be able to really reach out! Life springs eternal for the shortcut-to-success based upon stale bromides and stereotypes. To take just one example, Michael Steele's website promoting his bid for the RNC Chairmanship features a "text your ideas to Steele" feature. By this fabulous line of reasoning, Obama's strength among youth was to be found in his superior text messaging skills. (H8 2 tell u, Steele, but ur wrong, lol.)

That so many Republican leaders are under the preposterous delusion that the party's problems can be simply Twittered away is a perfect microcosm of the problem. Youth aren't rejecting the GOP because it's insufficiently accustomed to the ins and outs of Facebook, MySpace, and text messaging. No, it isn't the mode of communication: it's what's being communicated.

Let's be very clear: the party has done this to itself. It's not the media's fault. It's not George Soros' fault. It's not the Daily Kos' fault. It's not the fault of a band of 'secular progressives.' And young voters like myself who support a robust defense policy, capitalism, and a firm affirmation of American exceptionalism can only lament the bubble mentality of the hopelessly out-of-touch members of the party base who think that a great way to start solving the problem is to turn the guns on Susan Collins and Arlen Specter. A good purge of those damn RINOs is what we really need!

The party needs a purge, alright: a top-to-bottom purge of our current public image.

It would probably be a good start to embrace verbal coherency. A voter who came of age since the Clinton presidency best associates the Republican brand in this area with speakers who compel a listener to cross their fingers each time they open their mouths. President Bush might have been seen as an unfortunate anomaly were it not for the cringe-inducing verbal missteps of Sarah Palin. Having this dynamic duo juxtaposed next to a renowned orator such as President Obama was but the proverbial icing on top. If we as a party can agree upon nothing else, can we at least conclude that nominating candidates destined to be national punch lines is a bad idea?

And it's probably a good idea to acknowledge that religious conservatism is appealing to religious conservatives and absolutely no one else. After the landslide failures in 2008 of anti-abortion measures in South Dakota and Colorado and the sweeping successes of pro-stem cell research and pro-right-to-die initiatives in Michigan and Washington, respectively (note that all are swing states or have the potential to be one), it's time to admit the obvious: religious conservatism is a recipe for disaster in the years ahead -- most especially because its proponents are, little by little, dying off. The younger one is, the more likely he is to support gay marriage, right-to-die laws, and the like.

And alas, the social conservative trump card -- gay marriage -- is not one. Even if one concedes that there is a national mandate against gay marriage currently, what does it matter? Half of its opposition comes from racial minorities, who don't prioritize the issue and thus don't vote for Republicans, anyway. The overwhelmingly pro-gay young currently view Republicanism as a form of bigotry. The message they're sending to the GOP? Adapt or perish. Can't we at least accept civil unions as a form of compromise, instead of allowing religious hardliners to hold the party hostage by demanding no less than a true believer?

As a corollary, the quixotic quest for a constitutional ban on gay marriage has to end yesterday. As a common-sense rule, majority parties cannot be vehicles to push policies that have literally no chance of succeeding, but pushing policies that not only have no chance of passing but also harm the party's future is tantamount to gleefully committing political suicide. There is no "culture war" among the young: the Christian Right has lost, and denying it won't do the movement any good. Drop the issue of homosexuality on a national level and focus on something else.

Finally, something to wash all of that down: simply put, emulate Reagan. No, not the ultra-conservative demi-god that his hagiographic far-right biographers would have a forgetful public believe existed. I mean the Reagan who came to the table ready to compromise with the party with the legislative power to find solutions to the major issues of the day; the one who wasn't afraid to nominate a centrist judge, grant amnesty, or raise a tax in the spirit of unity. John McCain's primary campaign nearly flatlined due to his support for a pathway to citizenship for illegal immigrants. Would the base of Summer 2007 have even allowed amnesty-granting Reagan to legitimately claim the mantle of conservatism?

Reagan did not win two elections in landslides because he was a "true conservative," whatever that is. He won because he was a principled pragmatist who spoke -- eloquently -- of an optimistic vision geared toward the future. That is what today's youth see in President Obama, and it may be too late to win them back. But even if the best that we as a party can do is derive vital lessons for the future from his victory, it's more than worth an in-depth examination.