“Al Gore and the Democrats have teenagers convinced the seas are going to rise and flood New York City, but the Republican Party can’t convince us that we’re going to be bankrupt in 50 years? It sounds like we need to take a page out of their playbook and talk about genuine crises that are building.”
Republicans have lost any shred of credibility in regards to saving social security or preventing crises. GWB presided over the worst domestic and foreign policy mistakes in decades, with the help of a Republican congress. And in case you haven’t noticed, we are bankrupt NOW, mostly because Republicans have proven they can’t balance a budget, conduct a war, or prepare for a hurricane, and don’t understand basic arithmetic.
“The Democrats have dominated among the idealists for the past two decades by talking about building a more inclusive society, helping the downtrodden, and fighting for the oppressed. These rhetorical ploys attract the idealists. We need to fight this by putting out an inspirational conservative platform.”
Rhetorical ploys are not sufficient. In case you haven’t noticed, the youth who support the Democratic platform ARE building a more inclusive society, helping the downtrodden, and fighting for the oppressed. Fighting actual change with rhetoric is not going to work.
“To win the youth, conservatism needs to become “sexy” again, and we have to start talking about issues in a way that shows that they matter to my generation.”
Conservatism has never been and never will be sexy. The youth of this country are at odds with the Republican platform from one end to the other. They are also tired of a Republican party that is built on pure hypocrisy.
“We don’t have to dumb down our agenda or abandon our principles for populist rhetoric, but we need a strategy that convinces people they need to vote for America’s future, and that the Republican Party isn’t the party of old ideas or “rich white guys.””
People understand that they have to vote for America’s future – that’s why they elected Barack Obama rather than John McCain. The Republican party only continues to demonstrate that it is indeed the party of old ideas and rich white guys.
If Republicans actually want to be relevant to the youth of the country, the key is to outflank the democrats on libertarian ground. Stop the drug war, stop the fight against abortion rights, and get serious about a fair and graduated tax system that doesn’t leave the nation under a crushing debt for generations to come.
It is more likely that the Republican party will continue to fade in importance as the culture moves forward and the party loses more states each year to the Democratic demographic.
