The Middletown Press (Middletown, CT)
How to save the GOP: Advice from a teen
Some would think that a 19-year-old could not possibly have the wisdom or qualifications to claim that they have the recipe to save the GOP. But I believe the Republican Party has aged so much in my lifetime that I can speak to the outdated ideology it represents today.
While the GOP may maintain the Senate, win back a few seats in the House, and maybe even retain the executive seat this year, the party’s platform and what it stands for can’t continue to remain stagnant where society has drifted more and more to the left. Take the GOP’s problem with social issues. While the older generation cares more about traditional values, the younger generation, no matter their party affiliation, like myself, identify as socially liberal.
I understand why the GOP keeps prompting for this, but this is not a sustainable strategy. It is plain to see that older voters are more reliable voters than younger. The age of most older conservative voters is 70-to-80plus. I hate to seem morbid here, but life expectancy in the U.S. hovers around 78 years of age. There should be some cause for concern here as the core voting base is dying out.
The Democrats experienced the same problem during the Reagan-Bush era. They were perceptive enough, however, to not only start appealing to the younger generation by pushing for more social change and bringing the fight for equality to the limelight in such a way that seemed genuine. This strategy created the appearance that if you were a Democrat, you were a good person. Democrats were fighting against “the old, racist, white, elites,” despite the fact that the Democratic party was also run by the same kind of people. While all of this was happening, the GOP kept with the same ’80s strategy of socially conservative family values and, to an extent, they still do today.
The party in recent years has pandered to the retrogressive right, promoting the same anti-gay, anti-abortion, anti-immigration and anti-socially progressive rhetoric into the party platform and legislation. Yet, American society is being made up more and more of what the party is pushing up against. These people would not even
consider the GOP when they look at an antiquated platform that would hinder their lifestyles. It stands to reason that up and coming groups would not consider voting for this party the way it is.
One may argue that Trump flipped multiple blue states to red in the last election so he’s obviously pushing the party into the next generation, however, while Trump may be running on the Republican ticket, he is a populist and isn’t nearly as socially conservative as past nominees or presidents have been. Trump has created his own coalition of middle class, working class, disenfranchised white voters. These voters vote with their wallet. While they may disagree with the social platform of the GOP, they see Trump promising lower taxes, more jobs, and economic growth, and they realize that if they want to prosper financially, he is the guy who is more suited for that job rather than the career politicians who have run this country in the past.
However, this is the only group of voters that have flipped to the GOP in the recent decades, as the Republican party becomes the blue-collar party. When it comes to fiscal policy, I have seen significantly more support for the Republican’s approach of fiscal responsibility as opposed to the progressive Democrats concept of a “utopian” socialist state. However, these new voters are not going to be enough to win the White House, due to the large influx of immigration in our country.
What is my treatment for this dire diagnosis? First, stop being the mouthpiece of the evangelical right. The founder of modern-day conservatism movement, Barry Goldwater, put it best. “Mark my word, if and when these preachers get control of the [Republican] party, and they’re sure trying to do so, it’s going to be a terrible damn problem. Frankly, these people frighten me. Politics and governing demand compromise. But these Christians believe they are acting in the name of God, so they can’t and won’t compromise. I know, I’ve tried to deal with them.”
The GOP also must stop pandering to the Confederate South by defending monuments that glorify slavery. It must help illegal immigrants find easier pathways to legal citizenship. It should devote more money into public education and charter schools or that low-income parents have options.
It’s time for the GOP to progress. This is all coming from a 19-year-old, Catholic, Republican.