There they go again, Democratic leaders trying to shirk responsibility for what they can’t accomplish. Now they are trying to blame their annihilation in the midterm elections on the fact that young voters didn’t turn out to vote like they had in 2008. They won’t blame it on their failed policies; they’re blaming it on their young.
The problem is, the young voting bloc isn’t as reliably liberal as Democrats would like to believe. Take a closer look at the polls emerging from the 2014 midterms. At first glance, this voting bloc seems to be all over the map.
They’re just as much for Rand Paul as they are for Hillary Clinton. They lean toward Democratic candidates, yet they’re the most pro-life generation since Roe v. Wade. What’s the common denominator? There is one.
What brought the young people out in droves in 2008 is what drives them now. A sense of justice. That’s the common denominator. Although millennials made up only about 13 percent of the total turnout in the 2014 midterm elections, it is estimated that by 2015, they will make up about one-third of the electorate.
This could be a huge opportunity for Republicans.
Because the millennial generation is driven by justice, the Republican Party should be their home, not the Democratic Party. Yet, unfortunately, we as a party are not defined by our heroic history. Our great accomplishments are wrongly credited to the Democratic Party.
We, as a party, have a valiant history that’s worth putting on display. Just as our nation was founded by a rag tag team of misfits driven by passion and a sense of justice, the Republican Party was founded in this same spirit when the Whigs and Democrats lost sight of what it meant to be an American, to be free.
The early Republican Party fought for those who were pushed out of the political system, those who lost their voice; the worker, the farmer, the abolitionist, the struggling land owner fighting against government seizure. It was the party of the underdog. Early Republicans met at a little schoolhouse and local taverns, not exclusive country clubs. There was commotion and chaos at their meetings, not Rob’s Rules of Order.
Sown into this beautiful mess were seeds of passion, justice and truth. From these seeds grew the Republican Party, and that party – not the Democrats - abolished slavery, won the right to vote for blacks, won the right to vote for women. In spite of the modern perception of Democrats, it was the Democratic Fat Cats who tried to block the Republican pursuit of freedom and justice for all. The Democrats tried to quash the right to vote for blacks. They tried to stop women from getting the right to vote. It was the Republican Party that pioneered the fight for women’s rights and drafted the 19th Amendment. When the 19th amendment went to the states for ratification, the Democratic-controlled states voted against it. The Republican-controlled states pushed through ratification.
Republicans fought for the 1964 Civil Rights Act. The Democrats filibustered and tried to block that, too.
Democrats have a cruel history of oppression and entitlement. So why on Earth is the Democratic Party considered the party for women and minorities when they have such an ugly legacy?
It’s because, as a party, we Republicans have lost touch with our roots. Like some F. Scott Fitzgerald character, we’re trying too hard to be something we’re not, as if we’re ashamed of our humble beginnings.
Let’s get back to our roots. Let our passion and sense of justice fuel our party. Let’s meet at taverns and town halls again. Let our history speak for itself. This is what it means to be Republican. We’re about the underdog. We’re about pursuing justice. We’re about doing whatever it takes to protect and defend our God-given rights. This is authentically Republican. Pursue justice for all.
Whatever it takes.
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