Every American under the age of 30 has conscious memory of just two Republican presidents.
One was a blithering idiot who led the nation into disaster.
The other was a sociopathic lunatic who led the nation into disaster.
Note to Republicans: When the best of your best are stupid and/or crazy, maybe the problem is your party.
With this kind of record, we cannot blame young people for dismissing the GOP.
Young Americans are being “driven left not only by policy disaster, but also a yawning gap between the GOP’s positions and attitudes and what young people want.”
In the midterms, Democrats “defied election expectations because of a historically large age gap that saw young voters overwhelmingly back Democratic candidates.”
Younger people may have been the deciding factor in many races, and this fact has humbled the Republican Party. Conservatives have engaged in soul-searching, and they are pledging to reach out to younger voters and…
Wait. Skip that.
Republicans have responded to their Gen Z drubbing by demanding that we raise the voting age, thus proving once again that they are trying “not to win a democratic contest but to avoid one.”
Yes, like the GOP plan to deter African Americans from voting—instead of trying to win them over—the Republican Party wants to cut young people out of the voting process. Admittedly, that’s much easier than persuading a twentysomething that the GOP cares about anybody other than old white men.
But if you ask Republicans why young people hate them, they will insist that it is the kids who are wrong.
According to conservatives, the problem is not them. They say the issue is “that college education turns young people into ‘radical, leftist, hating-America atheists’,” or that Millennials are lazy.
Republicans don’t pause to consider that they are presenting horrific ideas. Instead, they shriek that the “new generation is totally brainwashed” and bemoan the fact that young people don’t invite them to campus to give racist lectures.
Of course, when conservatives do speak directly to young people, it is usually to denigrate them or threaten physical violence. That last part is no exaggeration. Conservatives want to literally slap college students for the egregious crime of petting a kitten.
Even those Republicans who aren’t threatening violence seen genuinely confused why younger voters aren’t flocking to them.
Hey, maybe it’s the overt cruelty that is designed to make 70-year-old bigots feel comfortable.
Or perhaps it’s because “when it comes to reproductive choice, Republicans are simply out of touch with the values of a significant part of the electorate”—e.g., young people.
Or maybe it’s because conservatives seem determined to destroy the planet, and younger people want to actually breathe real air when they’re 50—I know, talk about entitled, right?
The Republican Party looks at the most racially diverse generation in history, one that is less homophobic and more immigrant-friendly, and says, “We devote all our energy to demonizing you, your friends, and your family. Now, why won’t you vote for us?”
Yeah, it’s a stumper.
The GOP refuses to believe that the “anger that fueled the OK, boomer or Karen memes” is really younger people displaying “open resentment of the [older] generations who destroyed the economy, the environment, and the political system while still lecturing the youth on personal responsibility.”
And nothing says “older generation” like the Republican Party.
To be fair, some Republicans have seen the future and figured out that they are the problem, not the solution. So a tiny percentage of them want to address “a host of issues that are important to millennial and Gen Z voters, such as LGTBQ+ rights, racial equity and the environment.”
But, of course, this is the ultimate gaslighting.
Apparently, we are supposed to say, “Look, everybody! It’s the champion of the environment, advocate for ethnic minorities, and protector of gay people: the Republican Party.”
Can anyone of any political persuasion read that sentence without laughing or feeling bile gurgle up?
No, the Republican Party will not change because it cannot alienate angry old people, who are the only Americans who reliably support the GOP.
So instead it will shuffle onward into an increasingly decrepit existence, its archaic ideas appearing more pathetic with each passing year.
Republicans are simply incapable of aging gracefully.
Featured image by launceston_lad/CC BY-NC 2.0
