Not Your Grandma's Republican Party
The question of the hour: How can the GOP rebrand itself as the “Party of Cool”…or at the very least as a party that’s less uncool now than it has been for the past 25 years?
Never having excelled at being cool myself — and having recently scored a mere 36 on Pew’s “How Millennial Are You?” quiz (Millennials should score between 73 and 100) — I feel like a fraud proffering up any advice on the subject.
But for starters, I’ll second everything Glenn Reynolds counsels in his column today in the New York Post. His first item of advice: lower the drinking age!
Introduced by Republicans (it was spearheaded by Elizabeth Dole) in the 1980s, it was always a lousy idea. The result has been more, not less, alcohol abuse on campus, as student drinkers have moved from public venues, where there was supervision, to dorm rooms and frat houses, where there’s less.
And it’s fundamentally unfair. At 18, people can sign contracts, get married and sign up for student loans that will haunt them for decades. They can join the military and go off to die in foreign lands. But federal law presumes they’re too immature to have a beer.
Professor Reynolds goes on to recommend that Republicans ought to become advocates for revising the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) so that such things as unlocking one’s cellphone no longer land someone looking to switch mobile carriers in prison; and that the GOP should champion policies that offer solutions to the problem of skyrocketing tuition. Realistically, I think these latter suggestions are small potato issues.
The two major obstacles standing in the way of Republicans ever winning over young voters in a meaningful way are same sex marriage and marijuana. And though some liberty movement Republicans —folks like Rand Paul and Justin Amash and Tom McClintock — might individually support SSM and the legalization of marijuana, there is no way on God’s green earth that the GOP will ever embrace these things en masse. At least no time soon.
But that doesn’t mean that the Republican Party can’t pivot at all on these issues. On the matter of marijuana, why not support a decriminalization of possession so that law enforcement resources are freed up to attend to more serious crimes? And on the matter of same sex marriage, I commend Rod Dreher’s thinking to your attention. Dreher's argument boils down to this: SSM opponents would do well to abandon the fight against SSM, and instead focus on the threat SSM poses to religious liberty.
These are concessions, to be sure. But they are concessions consistent with an overall theme of liberty. Before the Republican Party writes off young voters forever, my sense is that we ought to give the robust message of liberty a fighting chance.
Image of hipsters from Shutterstock.
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Comments:
Mar '11
Re: Not Your Grandma's Republican Party
Joseph Eagar
Oh come on. We Millennials are much less self-absorbed than the Boomers. We're certainly not organizing ourselves to get ever-higher government benefits and ever-lower taxes. · 7 minutes ago
I used to think that, but I think that Gen X'rs and Millenials were so hot to emulate the Boomers that they're just like them, maybe even worse.
Dec '11
Re: Not Your Grandma's Republican Party
Neither do I.
WC is right-on about this.
Romney lived the message of fiscal responsibility/ success and was rejected; a candidate like Rubio-- who is an extremely talented spokesman-- does not have the fiscal background to address this country's extraordinarily complex crises.
I'm afraid that after the 2012 election, we lost our last, great hope.
Western Chauvinist: You know what this sounds like to me? If only Republicans were more like Democrats, they'dfinally be cool.
Ain't gonna happen. The culture is lost. We can't out-cool Juan and Evita at the Oscars.
Mar '11
Re: Not Your Grandma's Republican Party
Jim Ixtian
Totally agree. Dreher aka 'Crunchy Con' has developed his own reputation for being quite sleazy and cowardly. Anyone pointing out Dreher's lack of logic or facts on his blog will quickly find themselves banned.
Which is why AmCon is his main haunt now... the most misnamed political magazine in America, currently with stories about why gay marriage, protectionism, and unions are all really conservative things, and how those neocons like Bill Buckley slandered them.
Jul '12
Re: Not Your Grandma's Republican Party
I am mildly alarmed that I scored an 89 on this quiz. I may need an intervention.
Mar '11
Re: Not Your Grandma's Republican Party
Diane Ellis
dash: It just so happens that my Grandmother's Republican Party was the party of Calvin Coolidge*, so I'd rather prefer that this one emulate that one.
*We have a photo of her as a flapper, which just blew my mind as a kid. · 14 minutes ago
Maybe the title of the post should have been "Not MY Grandma's Republican Party" then. Eisenhower was a good and honorable man, but geez louise, those tax rates were insane! · 1 hour ago
Eisenhower was as conservative as the times would let him be. He was quite squishy on most things, and was a go-along-to-get-along Republican. That's why he was so popular. He really didn't take much of a stand on anything. He was quiet and tried not to be a TV hog. He was kind of a perverse Coolidge for the postwar 50's, where Americans wanted normalcy, but goshdarnit, they wanted social security, GI Bills, and a government-guaranteed chicken in every pot. We were socially conservative, but loved big government. The fifties proved that the left can never have enough. Big government? Not enough. Kill the churches too.
May '10
Re: Not Your Grandma's Republican Party
Merina Smith:
The party also needs to be aware that if they gain mils in that way, they LOSE grandma.
Agreed.
Diane Ellis
.... the demographic within the party that typically gets pretty upset when their social issues aren't front and center in an election.
The candidates to whom social conservatives have commonly objected were not disliked for refusing to put issues like abortion and marriage "front and center" but instead for refusing to address them at all.
Democrats aren't going to forget about those issues, regardless of Republican strategies. If Democrats could create the "War on Women" out of thin air, they can certainly make abortion a popular topic of discussion any time they want to. Republican candidates can't avoid having positions on controversial topics.
May '10
Re: Not Your Grandma's Republican Party
BrentB67
EJHill
Don't bet on it. Federalism doesn't work on marriage. ....
....
It was tested in Texas when gay partners that were married back east (I think MA) moved to Texas and tried to divorce. Texas told them sorry, you can't be married here so we can't grant a divorce. Case was closed. ·
Closed? Don't you mean it was passed up? Eventually, such scenarios are going to reach the Supreme Court.
Marriage is the most important arrangement a person ever makes. If another state refuses to recognize that arrangement, then that other state might as well be another nation. However federalism should work, I can't imagine SCOTUS sitting on the sidelines for long.
The Constitution assumes some commonality among the states. It assumes they are members of one nation. If the states now cannot agree on this most basic definition of marriage, then we are no longer one nation.
Jun '11
Re: Not Your Grandma's Republican Party
Joseph, then you would have loved Huckabee's act on Saturday's Fox and Friends.
His message to seniors: health care costs are going up because you're subsidizing the young for things like maternity benefits. That's right: the young are burdening the old with their snot-nosed kids.
The GOP isn't the stupid party... it's the insane party.
Joseph Eagar
Oh come on. We Millennials are much less self-absorbed than the Boomers. We're certainly not organizing ourselves to get ever-higher government benefits and ever-lower taxes. · 47 minutes ago
Apr '11
Re: Not Your Grandma's Republican Party
14 Baby!
I'm a Gen Xer according to my age.
Oct '11
Re: Not Your Grandma's Republican Party
Winchester1886: 14 Baby!
I'm a Gen Xer according to my age. · 11 minutes ago
17, my mang. I'm a Gen Xer, too.
May '12
Re: Not Your Grandma's Republican Party
Aaron Miller
BrentB67
EJHill
Don't bet on it. Federalism doesn't work on marriage. ....
....
It was tested in Texas when gay partners that were married back east (I think MA) moved to Texas and tried to divorce. Texas told them sorry, you can't be married here so we can't grant a divorce. Case was closed. ·
Closed? Don't you mean it was passed up? Eventually, such scenarios are going to reach the Supreme Court.
Marriage is the most important arrangement a person ever makes. If another state refuses to recognize that arrangement, then that other state might as well be another nation. However federalismshouldwork, I can't imagine SCOTUS sitting on the sidelines for long.
The Constitution assumes some commonality among the states. It assumes they are members of one nation. If the states now cannot agree on this most basic definition of marriage, then we are no longer one nation. · 56 minutes ago
I didn't know it got passed up. All I know is the one nation concept isn't working.
Feb '12
Re: Not Your Grandma's Republican Party
Trying to be "cool" is so unworthy, fatuous and superficial. Try being principled.
Jun '11
Re: Not Your Grandma's Republican Party
The Constitution was ratified by states that allowed chattel slavery and others that did not. I challenge the "assumption of commonality."
Also, I'm old enough to remember states that had different marriage and divorce (ahem) laws. Nevada was and is [in]famous for them. The divorce epidemic didn't start until most states went for easy divorce. It wasn't because states became "infected" by recognizing out-of-state divorces.
Aaron Miller
Marriage is the most important arrangement a person ever makes. If another state refuses to recognize that arrangement, then that other state might as well be another nation. However federalismshouldwork, I can't imagine SCOTUS sitting on the sidelines for long.
The Constitution assumes some commonality among the states.
Dec '10
Re: Not Your Grandma's Republican Party
I'm an unconventional/returning student at one of California's Public Universities and I can tell you SSM is a huge deal to young people. I am not sure that acquiescing on marriage will turn half of these kids Republican but it would allow some to at least consider voting R rather than D.
One young women told me outright she wanted to vote for Romney but couldn't because he was opposed to SSM (she also believed he was going to outlaw birth-control, for what that's worth).
The college Republicans are almost exclusively Ron Paul types and they do seem capable of differentiating between marijuana and other hard-core drugs.
Dec '10
Re: Not Your Grandma's Republican Party
The Republican party will never be cool if it tries to be cool. Cool people are comfortable with themselves. What the GOP can do is make the left seem square. This is best done through ridicule and condescension. The right should take every opportunity it can to mock the left, be it their leadership, their policy ideas, or their fashion sense. What are today's hipsters if not nerds who started making fun of jocks? The key to being cool is not to try to change yourself, that never works, but convincing enough people that you don't care what anybody thinks about you and pointing out the uncoolness in others.
Dec '11
Re: Not Your Grandma's Republican Party
Mike Visser:
One young women told me outright she wanted to vote for Romney but couldn't because he was opposed to SSM (she also believed he was going to outlaw birth-control, for what that's worth).
With all due respect to you, Mike, are you sure your acquaintance has the IQ to even register to vote?
Dec '10
Re: Not Your Grandma's Republican Party
EThompson
Mike Visser:
One young women told me outright she wanted to vote for Romney but couldn't because he was opposed to SSM (she also believed he was going to outlaw birth-control, for what that's worth).
With all due respect to you, Mike, are you sure your acquaintance has the IQ to even register to vote? · 14 minutes ago
Ha. All joking aside, she is your run-of-the-mill 21 year old female (maybe not so run-of-the-mill in light of admitting to even considering Romney). SSM is a deal breaker to most young people. Its a civil-rights issue to them. Maybe they want to have something they get to fight for.
Dec '10
Re: Not Your Grandma's Republican Party
Unfortunately, that's the point.
May '12
Re: Not Your Grandma's Republican Party
And that folks, is your typical California voter and explains why California is where it is.
I'll repeat myself; California voters(and more Americans) are going to have to decide whether Gay Marriage and pot are more important than national(& state) bankruptcy, a dollar collapse, modern day serfdom, and dismal job prospects. If SSM and legalized pot are more important to these voters than everything else then the Republican Party and the US is doomed.
IMO, the US will get what it deserves as it obsesses over triviality and social luxuries like SSM over far more serious issues. In a way I'm hoping the US & Europe does collapse so Americans & Europeans learn the hard way that ideologies like Feminism, LGBT, etc. are luxuries that won't last in the real world.
I suppose it's all a matter of priorities, no?
If Millenials, Liberals, Libertarians, and Independents don't come to their senses, reality is going to give them a bitch-smacking surpassing what Russian youth received when the Soviet Union collapsed.
Edited on February 26, 2013 at 5:12amDec '10
Re: Not Your Grandma's Republican Party
Jim Ixtian
I'll repeat myself; California voters(and more Americans) are going to have to decide whether Gay Marriage and pot are more important than national(& state) bankruptcy, a dollar collapse, modern day serfdom, and dismal job prospects. If SSM and legalized pot are more important to these voters than everything else then the Republican Party and the US is doomed.
IMO, the US will get what it deserves as it obsesses over triviality and social luxuries like SSM over far more serious issues. In a way I'm hoping the US & Europe does collapse so Americans & Europeans learn the hard way that ideologies like Feminism, LGBT, etc. are luxuries that won't last in the real world.
I suppose it's all a matter of priorities, no?
If Millenials, Liberals, Libertarians, and Independents, don't come to their senses, reality is going to give them a bitch-smacking surpassing Russian youth when the Soviet Union collapsed. · 1 minute ago
Edited 0 minutes ago
They want both; one party claims to offer them both.