Youth and the GOP

The New York Times blog The Caucus has an interesting story up on the Republican Party, its failure to reach out to young voters, and the feelings of frustration young Republicans have about it.

Check it out.

One comment I have is a general observation of all of these pieces that tend to be published every few weeks or so: those young Republicans that are interviewed are always ignoring reality. They feel like eventually there's going to be this gradual shift toward Republicans as the voters get older.

Some young Republicans seemed unsure of how to assuage their peers’ concerns. Asked how to respond to a younger generation that tends to be more supportive of gay rights, a young social conservative said that when people “become older” and have their own families, they will start to take social issues more seriously.

Mr. Black, a fiscal conservative who is openly gay, said almost the same thing about taxes: “When you get older you experience some of those issues that Republicans deal with.”

Still, he said, Republicans should not just wait for young Democrats to grow up. Republican activists “can’t just assume that they’re eventually going to come through. They need to be the alternative at the time they’re making the decision.”

The bit about taking social issues more seriously is simply not true. Research shows that those youth voting for a particular party for three straight elections typically develop a bond with that party for the rest of their lives. This myth has actually been shredded several times on this blog in the past.

Now, these younger Republicans do seem to feel the urgency a bit more than the old, white, male crowd. I actually commend them for looking for ways to reach out to youth. And there seems to be some acknowledgment early in the article that the way to do this is peer-to-peer interaction, so they're on the right path.

But this means we need to get our own act in order. Mike has discussed the atrophy of the youth infrastructure this election cycle due to the severely limited funding. It might be a while before the Republicans get the hint that an aggressive outreach toward youth will pay huge dividends in the future, but I don't want to be in a position where we're standing still until they do.

Republicans have a long way to go with youth, but we have lots of work to do too.

UPDATE: A Josh Marshall summation of Palin's comment last night in her speech makes it crystal clear why Republicans aren't successful with young voters.

Palin: Community service is for losers and freaks.