“Grand Old Party for a Brand New Generation”
The College Republican National Committee — which bills itself as the oldest and largest political youth organization in America, has come out with a report. The GOP would do well to listen-
In the report, the young Republican activists acknowledge their party has suffered significant damage in recent years. A sampling of the critique on:
Gay marriage: “On the ‘open-minded’ issue … [w]e will face serious difficulty so long as the issue of gay marriage remains on the table.”
Hispanics: “Latino voters … tend to think the GOP couldn’t care less about them.”
Perception of the party’s economic stance: “We’ve become the party that will pat you on your back when you make it, but won’t offer you a hand to help you get there.”
Big reason for the image problem: The “outrageous statements made by errant Republican voices.”
Words that up-for-grabs voters associate with the GOP: “The responses were brutal: closed-minded, racist, rigid, old-fashioned.”
“[The] Republican Party has won the youth vote before and can absolutely win it again,” the report says, pointing to presidents Ronald Reagan and George W. Bush who were competitive with that demographic. “But this will not occur without significant work to repair the damage done to the Republican brand among this age group over the last decade.”
Report details how GOP lost young voters - Katie Glueck - POLITICO.com
What it says is basically no different than what moderates have been telling the out of control ideologues that now run the GOP for ages- but considering it comes from a group that will largely constitute tomorrows republican leadership, it would be dumb to ignore it.