Andrew Sullivan (who we congratulate on his new business model, btw) recently posted his take on House of Commons approving gay marriage, by a very wide margin, opening the door for legalization once it passes the House of Lords. He quoted a Tory MP (equivalent of a House Republican... sorry Brits not meant as an insult) taking a slight dig at the GOP:
“I believe my party should never flinch from the requirement that we must continue this progression, otherwise we may end up like the Republican party who lost an election last year that they could have won were it not for their socially conservative agenda.”This warning rings true and should act as a red flag for the Republican party over here. As pointed out by John Stewart last night (I'm too busy/lazy to get the link right now, so just check it out), the GOP's growing demographic problem, despite GOP operator's protestations, is not really due to a problem with "messaging." The issue is that for most people under the age of, say, 40, the policy views and prescriptions behind the messages are terrible. The ill advised concentration on social issues and the general refusal to get on the right side of history, which is partially illustrated by the above quote, is a large part of the problem.
Many coastal millennials mentioned in the title would be amenable to the GOP's economic messaging (I personally think that Reagonomics/supply side economics is demonstrably bullshit but perhaps the government could use a bit of shrinking), especially since those from NYC, San Fran, Boston, Portland, Seattle, DC, etc., are more likely to have a higher income and thus higher taxes. The problem is that most also do not give a rat's ass about or are vehemently against preventing gay marriage, limiting access to birth control, outlawing abortions, the necessity of prayer in the public square or making sure religious associated institutions do not have to pay for health care that gives out the pill for free, preventing immigration, the sacrosanct nature of the right to bear any and all guns, no matter what, praise be
This, of course, can be discounted as unimportant by many in the GOP as making changes on social issues will alienate current, older voters, thus harming the party brand in the short term for an unsure outcome in the long term. Although undoubtedly true, it is hard to see what other options they have. The older guard are and will continue to die out and, unless they can replenish the ranks from younger generations, so will the party itself. Further, the millennials in the Republican thought incubators today will be the future intellectual leaders going forward. At the very least, Republicans should be hoping for a small schism in the party so that there is a group that they can discount in the near term while quietly encouraging them for the long term. Y'know... like the Tea Party but the exact opposite (more akin to CMB and YM as YMCMB with Young Money now not so slowly taking over).
A legit multi-party system is more interesting and is what the founders intended for this country; here's to hoping the GOP can re-establish more of the Grandeur by losing some of the Old.
IMAGE: James O'Keefe, Republican operative, from politicsafter50.blogspot.com via Google Images (he's clearly not a millennial I am talking about).
How cute was this post just (almost) three short years ago? How naive? Instead, the party has gone even further down the hill into nativist and racist sentiment and still got elected because, despite the demographics, a lot of people simply did not show up and vote. I literally cannot believe that we have gotten to this point yet here we are. Complacency is no longer an option people.
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