Last week, at the
Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC), there was a
guy with a mohawk. I suppose this was notable because the GOP is
generally a mohawk-free zone. Every time I passed said man
throughout the day, a crowd was gathered, snapping his photo. It
made me chuckle. He was no politician, pundit, or public
intellectual. He was just a guy with a mohawk. At CPAC.
But while dude’s hair choices may be atypical for young
Republicans, his views aren’t. Our mohawked friend—who goes by
Rooster—is mentioned liberally
in a recent article concerning the split between young and old
party members on social issues. Rooster is part of an emerging
young conservative cohort “who are pro-free market on fiscal issues
and libertarian on social ones,” The New York Times
informs us, somewhat confusingly (so he’s libertarian on
everything, then?). “While his views represent a potential growth
wing for a party that is losing among other demographics, they also
show an emerging tension with the older social conservatives at the
core of the party’s base.”
I wrote about this last week
in the context of a new Pew Research Survey on millennials. The
survey revealed that more than half of Gen Y identifies as
politically independent—though these young independents are more
likely to vote Democrat than Republican. Surmising from this and
previous polling data, along with anecdotal experience, it seems to
hinge heavily on the GOP’s handling of social issues. A majority of
young people (regardless of political affiliation) support marriage
equality and ending the drug war. And no matter where they fall on
birth control issues such as whether Hobby Lobby should have to pay
for it, most realize that it is a widely-used tool to prevent
pregnancy and not some dirty thing that only dirty dirty whores
need (a viewpoint all too rarely
displayed by seasoned Republican politicians, whose feet are
pretty much permanently wedged in their mouths when it comes to
contraception). Even millennials who do have socially conservative
views seem less likely than their elders to want to force them on
all people through the state.
People say that young adults outgrow liberalism, which may be
frequently true on economic issues. But it seems less likely that
this generation will eventually “grow into” social intolerance.
Certain liberal cultural ideas—like tolerance toward homosexuality
and marijuana use—aren’t going anywhere. As the
Times puts it: “This youthful libertarianism is not
fading when the Republicans of tomorrow graduate from college.”
Right now, the Republican party is losing
young independents because of its insistence on
making culture war issues preeminent. But they could soon start
losing more young Republicans, too. The
Times suggests that GOP politicians embrace more
libertarian attitudes or pay the price in upcoming elections. But
as someone with no vested interest in whether Republicans win
elections, I think the more interesting question is why all these
socially-liberal young folks still self-identify as
Republicans?
Psssst, Gen Y: There is a third way, you guys. The way
of no party. The way of small-l libertarianism. Come over to the
dark side, dear socially liberal young Republicans!
Unlike the GOP, we won’t try to change you. We won’t try to
insist you grow out of loving liberty for all. You can even still
vote Republican when (if) decent candidates present themselves. Or
vote Democrat. Or don’t vote at all. Meanwhile, you can be pro free
markets and pro fiscal responsibility while also supporting
personal liberty and sensible drug policy. [You can also be pro- or
anti-abortion rights; there’s a libertarian case for both…] And you
can do so without the outside world assuming you’re a big,
intolerant jerk.
When “the Duke freshman porn star”—I think that moniker is
self-explanatory enough—recently
defended her membership in the college Republicans, she
complained that people automatically assume her membership makes
her “a bigot and a homophobe.” When I recently attended a
panel of young conservatives talking about poverty, they
complained that people think the right’s poverty policy involves
nothing more than cutting benefits to the poor. But these
are the primary connotations of the GOP among much of Gen
Y: Bigotry, homophobia, lack of empathy (not to mention sexism and
sexual prudishness). As frustrating as it is for less
socially-conservative Republicans to be lumped in with those
associations, the party has done little to make them seem
undeserved. And it won’t, until younger party members start turning
away in large numbers. For young Republicans who really want to
change the GOP, the best way may be to leave it for a while. In the
meantime, we’ll be waiting over here all pro-markets and
pro-tolerance.
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