I recently had the pleasure of interviewing Mahgdalen Rose, host of The Rose Report on the McFiles Network and contributor for Freedomists. As a sophomore in college, her commentary focuses frequently on young voters around her age.
During our conversation, we discussed the election and the Republican Party’s struggle to reach young voters like herself. I asked her where the GOP has gone wrong when it comes to attracting younger voters.
One of the issues she identified was the tendency to argue against the socialist ideas college-aged Americans are being exposed to without also selling conservative solutions. “It’s one thing to say, oh, socialist ideas are crazy. Yes, I believe socialist ideas are crazy as well,” Rose said. “But if you’re not giving any other options and people are in serious debt and people don’t have health insurance, they are aging out of their parent’s plans with Obamacare and they’re worrying about being able to even rent an apartment as a roommate, you can’t just have no solutions.”
Rose also explained the flaws in the GOP’s messaging strategy for young Americans. She indicated that many of the leaders who represent conservatism when speaking with these audiences are not discussing the issues that they are facing. She said:
“So first of all, you need a youth platform. It’s not even, you know, the climate change issues and social justice. It’s basic things. It’s how are you going to pay for school debt? It’s homeownership rates. It’s small business. It’s the fact that we have a terrible education system. And I don’t feel like the Republican Party really wants to talk about those issues. And I don’t know how you win over people in an age group if you’re not talking about any of the things that directly affect them.”
Rose discussed messaging and other factors involved in gaining ground with younger voters. This is an issue that is crucial to the growth of the Republican Party. If it continues to fail with the younger generation, they will embrace the increasingly further leftist ideas of the Democratic Party.
In the interview, Rose also gives suggestions for how the GOP Can improve its standing with younger Americans. Hopefully, the party will be wise enough to craft a new strategy for winning over this key voting bloc.
Let me know what you think in the comments below!
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