The Young Conservative Coalition: Its Our Turn
No person passes through his or her youth without adults constantly reminding him or her that, along with the others in his or her age group, they are the “future of society” or “the leaders of tomorrow”. Initially inspiring, such clichés quickly become patronizing when it is evident that, for no matter how much elders enjoy repeating these sentiments to their younger colleagues, these platitudes are seldom translated into actual responsibilities. Young Americans in college, recent graduates, or the slightly-older “young professional” simply are not given the opportunity to demonstrate the promise they are so often told they possess.
In the conservative movement and Republican Party especially, indifference to the young leaders in these respective groups, and the youth as a general political constituency, has been so staggering one would assume it was a devised political strategy. As a former chairman of the American University College Republicans, and political director for the D.C. College Republican Federation, I frequently witnessed first hand the lack of coordination, communication, and use of young Republicans on political campaigns and party initiatives. Yet for young conservatives and Republicans across the country, this election cycle brought disappointment to new heights with how we are either misused, or unused by movement and party elders. There was no use of the College Republican infrastructure by the John McCain campaign to recruit supporters and register voters on college campuses; independent organizations were formed with no clear leadership structure or campaign affiliation. When the Obama campaign was using new media to text message supporters reminding them to go and vote, the McCain campaign didn’t even create a “Students for McCain” website! After the election, when the leaders of the conservative movement convened in Virginia to discuss the fallout, the inability to reach out to young conservatives, and the youth in general, was not effectively addressed.
It was for primarily for these reasons that I became a founding member of the Young Conservative Coalition (the YCC). YCC was born out of the belief that the conservative movement has in its ranks young professionals who have already demonstrated both the passion and the ability to find new ways to articulate, market, and implement conservative principles not only to those in their generation, but towards making headway on issues that the current GOP leadership has been squeamish about discussing, such as healthcare, and the environment. In an attempt to reconcile the increasing amounts of “factions” on the Right (fiscal conservatives, social conservatives, “national-security conservatives”), the YCC has members from every major conservative organization -- think tanks, law firms, lobbying groups, media outlets, grassroots organizations, college groups, etc. Correspondingly, our first project was to meet in Lake Anna, Virginia to draft “The Lake Anna Declaration,” a 21st-century “Sharon Statement”. Though a product of compromise, this document provides a sound definition of conservatism for the 21st century, and through the supplemental “plank memos” that are currently being drafted to reinforce the arguments made in the declaration, it is a great starting point for a conversation about what it means to be a conservative in 2009.
In addition to providing a reliable network of young conservatives around the district, and eventually, nationwide, the YCC is going to be developing policy resolutions, coordinating national summits, events with policymakers, and using new media to bring a voice to alternative conservative policies in a progressive age. Our first event at CPAC with Senator Jim DeMint brought over 300 young conservatives together in support of the Declaration, and our first monthly action meeting this Saturday will include the distribution of an “open letter” to conservative organization leaders, every GOP state chairman, as well as Chairman Steele indicating how young conservatives intend to help reform the movement and rebrand the party over the next year. April 22nd, Earth Day, will provide the YCC its first opportunity to re-frame the debate over climate change with an event outside the EPA that is slated to attract some high profile lawmakers on the issue. In addition to de-bunking conservative stereotypes on the environment and making the perils of cap-and-trade understandable to the general population, the YCC is putting together a policy proposal that will demonstrate how and why conservatives should re-frame the argument on climate change: from the “zero-sum” approach where we must choose between economic prosperity and environmental conservation, to a “prosperity approach” where the economy is used to create ways to conserve energy and the environment.
In the months ahead the YCC will be organizing a national right-of-center summit for young conservatives to improve coordination of message and activism in the movement. All of these initiatives are the first steps in creating a more fluid conservative movement with a base more informed of conservative principles, and a political dialogue that is reflective of the freshness that this youth-led organization can bring to the Right. I hope you will visit our website, endorse our platform, ask us questions, come to our events, and, especially if you’re a young conservative, finally embrace the leadership potential you were always told that you have. We are the ones we’ve been waiting for, after all.