This is my first diary here at Redstate, or anywhere for that matter. I have been pushing myself to write this for several weeks, but today I finally put thoughts to action. There are several myths pushed by the liberal state-owned media that I would like to disspell. I am not a research expert, nor do I have years of experience in politics. In fact, I am a 21 year old college student who is still learning on a daily basis. The reason that I can disspell these myths is because I am proof they are wrong.
Myth Number One: America’s youth are not interested in conservatism. The Republicans have lost the youth vote.
Reality: As I mentioned, I am 21 years old. President Reagan was just beginning his second term when I was born. I’m still in college. I talk to the “youth” everyday. They are my friends. And yet, I don’t hear them praising The One or proclaiming the sainthood of Nancy Pelosi. I am 21 years old, but I am still a conservative republican.
Myth Number Two: Immigrants won’t vote Republican. The Dems own the Immigrant vote.
Reality: Wrong again. My parents are from South Korea. I am first generation American born. Yet, both my parents and myself are conservatives. I talk to friends everyday from Vietnam, South Korea, and Thailand. They do not view kindly Obama’s push towards communism in this country.
Myth Number Three: The GOP does not want or need the LBGT vote and wouldn’t get it anyway. All of the gays will vote for the dems.
Reality: Homosexuals are just like any other people. We don’t want tax hikes. We don’t want to pursue a policy of surrender in Afghanistan. We don’t want to cut and run in Iraq. We don’t want a policy of appeasement with Kim Jong Il or Hugo Chavez. I am a proud supporter of the Log Cabin Republicans, and I have been living with the same partner for two years now.
For all of the messages of doubt and despair. The statist media wants us to believe there is no hope for the GOP. Conservatism is supposedly dead, if you watch ABC, CBS, CNN, or MSNBC. And yet, I’m still here. I’m still young, Asian, and lesbian. I am still a conservative Republican. And the media is still wrong.
Steve Maley
Moe Lane
Dan McLaughlin
Neil Stevens
Daniel Horowitz
This country is Conservative and the sooner...
JadedByPolitics (Diary) Monday, October 12th at 7:36PM EST (link)the GOP gets that through their thick heads the quicker Pelos, Reid and other assorted leftwing NUTS can go home for good!
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Actually more Conservative with Libertarian leanings
SteveLA (Diary) Monday, October 12th at 7:54PM EST (link)Jaded
I think most people are conservative to some extent, but they also have a Libertarian streak and want the government to leave them the heck alone.
If you look back in history at Barry Goldwater, he was plenty conservative but he was also a favored getting government out of people’s lives, as was for that matter Reagan to some extent. Even the 1995 Contract With America was more libertarian leaning than culture warrior. Recently the Tea Parties were more about getting government out of people’s financial business.
Bottom line…Less government = good government.
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Competency over ideological purity and litmus tests
Libertarianism and Conservatism
fmaidment (Diary) Monday, October 12th at 8:07PM EST (link)These two are kissing-cousins. Only the barest of differences, usually in regard to the aggressiveness of foreign policy and some social issues, separate the two.
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“I would rather be exposed to the inconveniences attending too much liberty than to those attending too small a degree of it.”
– - Thomas Jefferson, to Archibald Stuart, 1791
Let make it constitutional conservative
RoguePolitics (Diary) Tuesday, October 13th at 8:15PM EST (link)Most of the people who wrote or supported or ratified the constitution were conservatives with a libertarian bent.
“So much of left-wing thought is a kind of playing with fire by people who don’t even know that fire is hot.” George Orwell
“Ancient Rome declined because it had a Senate, now what’s going to happen to us with both a House and a Senate?” Will Rogers
When the American spirit was in its youth, the language of America was different: Liberty, sir, was the primary object. Patrick Henry
http://theprecinctproject.wordpress.com
Because the Republican Party is NOT going to fix the Republican Party.
http://americanamendment.com/
Because Washington is NOT going to fix Washington.
Right there with ya
redtillimdead (Diary) Monday, October 12th at 7:56PM EST (link)I’m 26 years old, a conservative Republican, who has many friends who are my age and younger, and we all share very similar views.
Nancy Pelosi can kiss my asstroturf.
Welcome!
SirGladiator (Diary) Monday, October 12th at 7:57PM EST (link)Congratulations on your first Diary! You’re exactly right that the media loves to stereotype people, especially Conservatives, and of course the truth is we’re a cross section of America. The more you know and understand the basic principles of Government, Freedom, the Economy, and Morality, the more likely you are to be a Conservative, it doesn’t matter what your racial or economic background, nationality, etc is. The media, being mostly liberal themselves, would love for people to believe that if you happen to be a member of certain groups then you ‘have’ to be a liberal like them, but that’s just part of their agenda. The truth is completely different, and you’re living proof of that. Congratulations on exposing their myths, and welcome to Redstate!
A very nice first diary.
Steph C (Diary) Monday, October 12th at 8:11PM EST (link)Howdy, suzieq. Make yourself at home.
“[I]f the public are bound to yield obedience to laws to which they cannot give their approbation, they are slaves to those who make such laws and enforce them.” –Candidus in the Boston Gazette, 1772
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Nice one, SuzieQ
fmaidment (Diary) Monday, October 12th at 8:16PM EST (link)Nicely written, young lady.
Congratulations on your first diary, and welcome to RedState! We always look forward to new viewpoints, and the discourse here is fun, fervent and occasionally frenetic and even fuming.
We’ll agree with you and praise you, and we’ll disagree with you and tear your argument to shreds. It’s nothing personal, and it prepares you to better defend your positions in the future. Be prepared to be challenged on everything, by conservatives, libertarians, liberals and more.
And don’t be afraid to challenge us, as long as your argument is factual and logical.
Welcome aboard!
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“I would rather be exposed to the inconveniences attending too much liberty than to those attending too small a degree of it.”
– - Thomas Jefferson, to Archibald Stuart, 1791
Welcome Suzieq. It is nice to know there are conservative...
penguin2 (Diary) Monday, October 12th at 8:29PM EST (link)young people out there. IMO, and as others have already noted to you, this site can be challenging and informative. Perhaps RS will be able to provide you with some good conservative arguments for your college experience.
Welcome.
Resistance to tyrants is obedience to God. – Benjamin Franklin
When Good stands up to Evil, Evil blinks. – Vassar Bushmills
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Republicans are losing those demographic groups.
noufa Tuesday, October 13th at 1:24AM EST (link)Sometimes it feels hopeless. But it’s encouraging to know that some are bucking the trend. Thanks for posting!
As a fellow 80’s kid, I’ve been thinking about the youth vote. We carried it in ’80 & ‘84. You’re right to invoke Reagan. There’s a long trend of Republicans losing youth ever since his presidency:
http://matthewyglesias.theatlantic.com/partyID_youth.png
Charlatans use the Republican loss of the youth vote to push their own liberal/moderate social agenda within the GOP. “We need to embrace (Environmentalism, Affirmative Action, Abortion Rights, Evolution, Peace or whatever) to lure back the youth vote.” Pfft.
-The youth interest in the environment is shallow: http://www.aei.org/outlook/30
-There’s no evidence that racial affirmative action wins. If anything, Obama held the youth vote by caving in on AA vis-à-vis Sasha & Malia.
-Youth are trending pro-life: http://www.lifenews.com/nat481.html
-Evolution is a matter for local school boards, not partisan politicos.
-The military is a volunteer force. Young people aren’t worried about the draft.
Reasonable Republicans can sometimes differ on these epic concerns. But there’s no need to accept the flimsy Democratic premise that senile old conservatives vote against their interests because of wedge issues.
Democrats win young voters with tax credits for the lowest income brackets, minimum wage hikes, “free” universal health care, expansion of Pell grants & publicly subsidized rail transit. Though the economic model is not sustainable, it speaks to the economic anxiety of young people.
Republicans can speak to that anxiety without imitating Democrats. We do it with the payroll tax, expanding HSAs, exposing universities wasting tuition dollars & keeping fuel prices low. We should also reverse years of bad policies which gave us the housing bubble, which was absolutely brutal on young people.
As Republicans, we definitely need to get our house in order. But we have an advantage in that conservatism offers an ideological framework that CAN appeal to all Americans.
“Obama is not a centrist. He was never centrist. He is a uniter. He does reach across the aisle. But he always do so in pursuit of progressive ends.”
-Jonathan Stein of Mother Jones 1/31/08
The problem? Republicans are too afraid to discuss our stand for LGBT.
Rod_Patrick (Diary) Tuesday, October 13th at 2:54AM EST (link)Sorry.
Welcome suzieQ.
TNJim (Diary) Tuesday, October 13th at 3:14AM EST (link)I knew we hadn’t lost the youth vote because of the young people here on RedState and in east Tennessee, but I never had a good feel for how many 20 to 30 somethings were conservative nationwide until I started using twitter. Just follow the #tcot and #ocra hashtags and you’ll see what I mean. And this 52 year old is learning some things from them as well as the ones here.
Glad to have you. And dittos what Fred Maidment said above.
Welcome SusieQ and great intro to yourself...
Tom Anderson (Diary) Tuesday, October 13th at 10:06AM EST (link)To echo what’s been said before, it’s nice to know that the media myth of Dem domination in youth demographics isn’t as true as we might be led to believe.
I welcome you and look forward to hearing more from you in the future, both diaries and comments.
“All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.”
- Edmund Burke
You go, girl!
bantamwait (Diary) Wednesday, October 14th at 9:31AM EST (link)Great post, and welcome aboard.
Let’s send the Marines to evacuate refugees from Libya and shut down the drug gangs in Mexico–and make the Marine hymn relevant again.
You Are The GOP
Walter Scott Hudson (Diary) Wednesday, October 14th at 10:33AM EST (link)We need you and welcome you. The capacity to appreciate the principles enshrined in the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution depends on no social status or statistic. Liberty is valuable to everyone. Anyone who loves liberty is welcome to fight alongside me. I too stand as what some may consider an unconventional Republican, having a black father. Minorities are protected by the principles of constitutional republic, not mob rule destined to descend into socialist oligarchy. Keep writing. Keep fighting. And God bless you.
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