Republican Messaging: Reaching Out To The Youth

June 19th, 2008 by Jake Hatlin | Posted in Keeping The Right In Line |

Good news for Republicans, our current message on this topic isn’t flawed.  Bad news for Republicans, that’s because we don’t have one.  Call it being stubborn, call it whatever you want, but the Republican party has their heels dug in when it comes to shifting up their image to appeal to our youthful sect of society.  They want nothing to do with it.

For the sake of this discussion, lets label 22 - 32 as our so-called youth.  To message to this market we first have to understand this market, and as generation X continues to take over this age bracket, its face has rapidly changed.  Today, when you are talking about 22 - 32 year old voters, you are talking about young professionals.  People who have graduated from college and moved on to the real world.  They are likely single and without children, as generation X places a greater value on marrying later in life.  It is doubtful that they spend much time in church, a high percentage of them are renters and it is unlikely that they give a damn about what is and is not a traditional marriage.

So what do we as Republicans have to offer to this clan in the form of appealing characteristics?  Sadly, nothing. 

Most of the problem here can be attributed to the Republican party out-right shunning this lifestyle.  The image of the Republican party is that of very family orientated (meaning a spouse and kids), very faith based (meaning long standing church affiliation), and much older (40 and above).  And even though the values and the face of our society has evolved away from that over the last 25 years, the face of the Republican party refuses to evolve with it.

Think I’m wrong?  Lets take a look at the Texas House as a microcosm of the whole. The youngest Republican member of the Texas House, Representative Dennis Bonnen, is 36 years old.  Meanwhile there are 8 democrat House members younger than Mr. Bonnen.  Despite being in the minority, single democrat House members outnumber single Republican House members by a ratio of almost 4 to 1.  And I don’t think you need me to tell you which party has aligned itself with religious doctrine. 

And wait for it, because it gets better.  During the recently concluded primary season, I actually listened to one Republican House member profile a four-way primary for an open seat.  When he came to the 33 year old candidate - who was a husband, father and a prosecutor - the House member actually said that he was just a little too young and not quite ready.  Well I have some bad news for that House Member, the median age in Texas is 33, making this a story that truly personifies the problem as a whole. 

So you can forget about any words we put together to reach out to the youth vote.  The simple fact that they are going to come from the current face of our party has Republicans already starting out with two strikes against us.  No, before we get to words, Republican first need a makeover.

I’m not saying that we need to kick all our existing Republican legislators out and replace them with a bunch of 22 year olds right out of college, and I would never advocate voting for someone just because of their age (just as I wouldn’t because of their race or gender). But the time has come for the Republican party to reach out to generation X, get them involved and interested, encourage them to take a more active role in civic duties, show them why the Republican party is the party for them, and then see which ones naturally gravitate toward elective office on their own.

And when they do, we need to encourage them to run.  We need to see the potential inside them, even if they don’t have 40 years of experience in the real world.  We need to come to terms with the fact that just because they don’t have a family doesn’t mean they’re going to trample all over family values.  After all, one day they probably do want to start a family of their own. Just like we need to understand that just because a candidate doesn’t have a 20 year church affiliation does not render them unable to see the value that organized religion brings into our society as a whole.

Only when we change our attitude toward today’s youth and allow that to naturally change our face can Republicans then work on their words.  Otherwise they’re just empty.  Is generation X to believe that Republicans are the party for them because Jim Jackson or Delwin Jones tells them so? No, they’re not.  Is it easier to swallow that same line from Patrick Rose, Ana Hernandez and Eddie Lucio III? Certainly, and that is why more of your nontraditional youth vote is migrating over to the democrat party.

And I have some bad news for Republicans….Years later after they start their family, achieve twenty plus years of service in the real world and rack up that long standing church membership, they’ll still identify themselves as democrats and Republicans will be in the vast minority.