by Carpe Diem
There’s no way to sugarcoat it. The Republican Party has performed abysmally with young voters in recent elections. This cannot continue to be swept under the rug for much longer if the Stupid Party wants to avoid extinction.
Some figures should terrify everyone who doesn’t support a full-blown Marxist takeover of our failing country.
In the 2022 Midterms, a whopping 77 percent of Generation Z (those born between 1997-2012) voted for Democrats, while 56 percent of Millennials (those born between 1981-1996) voted for the party of Joe Biden, John Fetterman, and the squad.
And now for the really bad news.
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, by 2028, Millennials and Gen Z will represent a plurality of eligible voters. By 2036, those two cohorts will represent more than 60 percent of would-be voters.
In other words, the most uninformed group of voters—those with the least amount of life experience—will soon be deciding who sits in the Oval Office and who controls Congress over the course of the next several elections.
Broken down by race, ethnicity, or sex, the figures look even worse for the GOP among young adults.
Consider that in the last election, 58 percent of white Americans ages 18-29 voted for the party that says a person is racist solely for lacking melanin. Meanwhile, 89 percent of African Americans ages 18-29 voted for the party that wants to defund the police. And 68 percent of Latinos ages 18-29 voted for the party that condescendingly refers to them as “Latinx.”
Not surprisingly, Republicans fared equally as bad among young female voters in the 2022 midterms.
In 2022, 65 percent of white female voters ages 18-29 voted for the party that wants to let biological men compete against female athletes. Eighty-nine percent of African American females ages 18-29 voted for the party that celebrates abortion on demand, and 80 percent of Latinas voted for the party that can’t even define what a woman is.
The numbers will likely only get worse in future elections. It’s not hard to understand why the Right does so poorly with young voters each election cycle.
It’s tough to compete with the Left when they offer up a Bernie Sanders socialist goody bag of free college, free healthcare, a guaranteed universal basic income, and the Green New Deal, all paid for by us.
Is it any wonder that the pink-haired gender studies majors are down for the cause when their party believes merit-based achievements are immoral, allows individuals to identify any one of 568 genders, thinks illegal immigration is wonderful, and insists that men can get pregnant?
Conversely, the Right offers up patriotism, lower taxes, fewer regulations, law and order, clean streets, energy independence, a secure border, and removing wokeness from our institutions.
Those might sound appealing to the commoners, but they aren’t exactly the type of issues that will excite any Che Guevera-worshiping, marijuana-loving atheist who spends her spare time scrolling TikTok and railing against the inhumanity of fracking as yet another manifestation of the late-capitalist patriarchy.
Good luck boasting to a cohort that is likely still supported by their parents that a vote for Republicans means a lower corporate tax rate, a wall along the southern U.S. border, the end of the “environmental, social, governance” movement, a strong stance against Russia, China, and Iran, and the dismantling of the Deep State.
So what can Republicans do to appeal to our disenchanted youth?
For one, stop calling them “snowflakes” and similarly derogatory names, even if that is exactly what they are. Would you vote for a candidate that constantly mocks and demeans you? Of course you wouldn’t. Why would young voters choose a party they believe is out of touch and holds them in contempt?
Instead, speak to them about the necessity of having strong families and how the Left wants to destroy the nuclear family in favor of big government and soulless, statist control.
And, despite their social-media-infected views of capitalism, it’s worth explaining that capitalism nevertheless remains the greatest system for lifting the highest number of people out of poverty.
Yes, most college-aged people have no sense of economics, or how the world actually works, but explain to them that it is not generous for pious politicians to tell us how we should spend our money. No one should be penalized for earning too much, if the market dictates there is a demand for their services.
Talk to them about American exceptionalism and the idea that our rights do not come from government but from God. And, in any case, government exists to protect rights, not hand out rights like candy to well-behaved children.
Speak to them about American ingenuity and about how our country has an unparalleled system that allows for creativity and entrepreneurialism, not one that stifles innovation like Cuba, Venezuela, and Nicaragua.
Tell them about the importance of being a striver, and an independent thinker, and the value of having a strong work ethic—not one where laziness, government handouts, and victimization are celebrated.
The bottom line: Unless and until Republicans figure out a better messaging strategy accompanied by sound policies to court younger voters, the Stupid Party will have a terrible time winning elections anytime in the foreseeable future.
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Carpe Diem is the pseudonym for a writer who was a speechwriter in the Trump Administration.
The GOP will never have Gen Z. They have told them only one thing since the day they were born, “You are expendable.” By the way I’m 48.