Gen Z GOP wants new party option
Group looking for more moderate direction
The organizers of a young Republican group who oppose President Trump say they want to build the GOP of the future by staying away from “unproductive discourse” and providing a better alternative to the left.
Called Gen Z GOP, the nationally focused group with Massachusetts roots officially launched over the weekend with a social media video that lays out a vision for a new Republican Party that attracts the newest generation of voters.
The group “vehemently opposes” a lot of what the left stands for today, said Samuel Garber, a freshman at Bates College.
But the GOP ratcheting up the rhetoric on the right will not attract the Gen Z generation, and “drives people further away from the Republican Party,” he said.
“We are somewhere in the middle, where a majority of the country and state (Massachusetts) is,” Garber said.
In the video launched over the weekend, the group says The Republican Party has been “hijacked” in recent years.
“As Republicans, we believe that the party of Lincoln is worth saving from its current flirtation with authoritarian populism,” the video narrator says. “But we do not seek to return to the politics of the past. We seek to present a new vision — a vision that does not cave to the polarized choices of left and right, but one that embraces nuance, freedom and opportunity.”
The Gen Z GOP promotes: free trade and fiscal responsibility, bipartisan reform for border security, and private-public partnerships to provide accessible health care.
“We strive to be a GOP that pursues climate change solutions that harness American innovation and create green energy jobs,” the narrator says. “A GOP that can embrace Americans of all backgrounds, proudly proclaim that Black Lives Matter and work to combat injustice and inequality.”
One of the reasons for forming this group was sparked by the “unproductive discourse” from the Massachusetts Republican Party, said Mike Brodo, a junior at Georgetown University.
“The current leadership is caving to the national GOP playbook,” Brodo said of the MassGOP. “It’s that unproductive discourse that turns Gen Z away from the political party.”
MassGOP Chairman Jim Lyons on Sunday said he looks forward to having an opportunity to speak with the Gen Z GOP organizers.
In response to their criticism, Lyons said, “Our basic platform is freedom, individual liberty, personal responsibility and a freemarket system rooted in capitalism.” He also said that the “radical left on Beacon Hill attacking our police is something we should all be concerned about.”
In addition to the video over the weekend, Gen Z GOP is launching a podcast today.