"How does the Republican Party go about attracting younger voters?"

It's been awhile since I have actually felt like writing about politics, but a recent discussion topic on the current events news show "The Five" caught me eye and got me to wondering ... which always gets me into trouble, but I digress ....

The question was:  "How does the Republican Party go about attracting younger voters?"


I love Greg Gutfeld, co-host of "The Five".  Yesterday, on the show --I happened to have time to watch for a change-- as the discussion topic above began Eric Bolling stated, rather matter-of-factly, that Republican candidates "need to return to their conservative roots" ... to which Greg replied "We had {a whole field} of conservative candidates this past election and they sucked!" Too funny, but true. You can always count on Mr. Gutfeld to tell it like it is.  The Republican candidates in the 2012 Primary cycle started out strong and then blew themselves up on the land-mines of conservative moral convictions.

Personally, I think that the key to attracting younger voters into the Republican party is for the conservative base to tone down their exclusionary rhetoric and to get a grip on the difference between holding a moral conviction and the infliction of those personal beliefs onto others.  A citizen has every right to believe and act upon their personal moral convictions, in their own lives, but they do not have the right to force their beliefs as such onto others unless these beliefs are the "Will of the people" and thereby accordingly become the "law of the land" as enacted by Congress ... After all, our government is supposed to be a government of "We the people":  ALL people, not just people who happen to believe the way you do.  In my humble opinion, a failure to recognize and speak to the latter on behalf of the Republican field of candidates alone --and the party at-large-- is what cost the Republican Party the White House in the 2012 election.

I also happen to agree with Greg Gutfeld when he speaks about the need for a "Libertarian revolution to sweep across the college campuses" of our nation, ushering in a return to revolutionary times of the times of late 60's - 70's --maybe just minus the drugs and other violent/counter-productive behaviors.  We need a revolutionary-like surge to re-invigorate younger voters, to help motivate them to find a driving belief in something (anything!) as opposed to just settling for being beat-down by the stagnant state of the accepted status quo our nation seems to have settled into these past few years. These days, upon graduation, college-degree holding graduates must often return to waiting tables and living in their parents basement once again, with the added bonus bonus of having accumulated thousands of dollars in student loan debt while having no viable career prospects in their immediate futures.  But shouldn't these same students at least be putting up a fight and demanding more from the rapidly vanishing "American Dream"? Perhaps the Republican Party can help to re-establish a driving belief in the notion that "we the people" can truly create a better, leaner, more efficient government that will finally succeed in bringing back much needed jobs to the United States, while earnestly working to increase our nation's competitive edge in order to create new-age/tech jobs, jobs that would extend way beyond the repeatedly pushed narrative of "employment opportunities provided by infrastructure revitilization" we've heard --with very little resultant actual opportunity, in terms of jobs-- time and again, over the course of the past decade.  With a new market for high demand tech and related jobs, we should see a subsequent substantial increase in GDP, which we can then begin to use toward the end of diligently addressing the growing (by thousands of dollars with each passing minute) need eliminate the current legacy of generations upon generations of inherited national debt.  The latter being said, any awakening belief that sparks hope for a rebuilding of our nation, on multiple levels, would be preferable to the general apathy and malaise of political-correctness and "safe-space" coddling that we are  currently seeing sweep across college campuses throughout the nation today.

In today's tech savvy global world, younger voters are especially more willing to dig deeper and to search multiple sources for information before forming an opinion on any given issue.  This could also be a function of the fact that they are just better and more widely connected in today's "social media"/information-access world. Younger voters are therefore exposed to a wider field of diverse viewpoints and this, perhaps, makes them more open to considering alternate viewpoints, thereby straying from 'traditional' party lines ... Unlike older generations of voters who often readily adopted --most often without questioning the merits of the adopted beliefs, particularly w.r.t. changing times-- the views of their family members and/or religious affiliations w.r.t voting and national issues  [A notable exception being opposition to the Vietnam War].  That is to say, while older voters often inherited their voting preferences, the younger voters of today want to get at a version of the "truth" before forming their opinions on a wide range of issues facing citizens and voters in our nation today.  This means these younger voters are going to be harder to sell when it comes to accepting the traditional Republican Party platform.

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The Republican Party may have the best engine when it comes to fixing economic woes facing our nation, but if the Republican Party can't bend a little and adapt to changing times by exercising a willingness to rethink and repackage their message in an inclusive (vs. exclusive ... e.g., contraception) 'car body' for their economic engine:  then their "car ain't gonna drive" and the Republican Party will sadly be doomed to fail in round 3 as well.



P.S.  Before you judge me or write me off all-together w.r.t. my opinions posted above, let me just say this ...  Contrary to what you might think --per my more recent posts-- I am still a Christian ... I am just not an intolerant or a judgmental one, not that I have ever been intolerant or judgmental:  I am just now finding my own voice --this past year or so-- to speak out against the latter negative --yet somehow, still widely accepted--  aspects of "Christianity" as I do not find these traits to be truly of Christ or Christian in nature.  To my way of thinking Jesus was all about Peace, Love and Understanding, traits which run counter to the very nature of intolerance and judgment.  As Christians we should lead by example ... love, nurture and care for others in need unconditionally.  From what I have witnessed in my own personal life, it is this "unconditional" part that most Christians have trouble with, especially when it comes to resisting the temptation to force one's own moral convictions and personal beliefs upon others that we encounter in life.  In matters of a spiritual nature our choices must be made, felt and truly processed in the heart and mind of each individual for only then can true spiritual enlightenment and advancement of the soul along the path of our journey home to our Creator occur. The latter meaning simply that fear and coercion --forced or otherwise-- are not instrumental toward the end of spiritual enlightenment and advancement of the immortal soul along our journey home.  I have written several pieces (here in this blog) on contraception and other related topics if you are interested in truly opening your heart and mind in order to consider another valid point of view.