GOP sounds alarm over struggles with Gen Z voters

[RandySF]

Republicans are urging the party to do a better job engaging with young voters after the GOP saw Generation Z voters cast ballots by large margins for Democrats in the November midterms, making the difference in key congressional and gubernatorial races.

While the party has long struggled with attracting younger voters, the 2022 midterm elections underscored the extent to which those struggles are a liability for it. Now, Republicans are calling on the party to step up its outreach, including by finding more Gen Z surrogates, engaging with young voters on social media platforms and speaking to issues those voters care about.

“When you ignore people’s bread-and-butter concerns and their more cultural concerns, you can’t expect to win their votes. And we’re having a series of close elections, and the Republicans are just throwing away an entire demographic, and it’s costing them elections,” said veteran GOP strategist Keith Naughton.

An analysis by Tufts University’s Center for Information & Research on Civic Learning and Engagement (CIRCLE) using day-after estimates suggests that voter turnout among 18- to 29-year-olds in 2022 was at the second highest of the last 30 years for a midterm election. In House races alone, the demographic favored Democratic candidates to Republicans 63 percent to 35 percent, remaining mostly consistent since 2020 but a slight drop from 2018, when the margin was 67 percent to 32 percent.





https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/3786819-gop-sounds-alarm-over-struggles-with-gen-z-voters/

[rubbersole]

1. Good luck appealing to young people...

...you climate change denying nazi fucks. Z'ers don't care what has tuckem's panties in a twist today.

[William Seger]

19. They certainly aren't going to change their policies to attract Zers

... so I assume that what this guy means is that they need to put more effort into deceiving them.

[LuvLoogie]

24. This.

Ben Shapiro and Candice Owen are getting a little long-in-tooth.

The GOP will continue to appeal to the greedy and the pitting of seniors' and the poor's welfare against youth financial futures.

[OldBaldy1701E]

40. Came to say this... thank you for beating me to it! (n/t)

[ProudMNDemocrat]

2. The GOP offers NOTHING to Gen Z voters..

Other than....Abortion restrictions, OPPOSING partial Student Loan debt forgiveness, making it harder for them to vote, OPPOSING a higher National Minimum Wage, being soft on gun violence, OPPOSING LGBTQ rights, and so much more that affects the younger generations of Americans.

The GOP is NOT a big tent party that welcomes diversity of any kind as does the Democratic party. Which is why Democrats are coring big time with the Gen Zers and beyond.

[central scrutinizer]

5. The GQP head in the sand stance on climate change

Is another big negative for them. Gen Z will inherit an earth that we trashed.

[DENVERPOPS]

15. I suspect their appeal

to younger voters is the fact they are pumping them with why are you paying for older or disadvantaged people, etc

The New Republican Party is attacking Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, food stamps etc and asking the youth why should you be paying for this/?????????????????? All of which is a total load of crap. The New Republicans are also hell bent on destroying public education so that the young people won't be able to use critical thinking or History, or anything else to contradict their lies.

I gotta tell you, we have never been in a worse time in our history/Democracy.........

The New Republicans are going all out to install a Corporate Fascist Tyranny which will crush the lower 99% and destroy the constitution and Democracy.......all for the sake of the top 1% who will dictate everything forevermore.........

[OldBaldy1701E]

41. Sure we have.

And, we had to fight an internal war to resolve it. What scares me is that this time around we may wait even longer before seeing the truth of the matter...

[Evolve Dammit]

16. "NOTHING" is right.

[vanlassie]

22. Giving them advice like:

“Borrow money from your parents.”

[ProudMNDemocrat]

23. All the while while they screw over the parents.

[GoodRaisin]

27. The Republican plan for Gen Zers is work until you die.

Not very appealing.

[DENVERPOPS]

43. AND

If you get sick, die.......

[GoodRaisin]

44. Oh yeah. Profit centered health care with unaffordable insurance and meds.

It’s included in their bucket of shit.

[Sky Jewels]

51. Work three low-wage jobs and share a shitty rental with five roommates.

[TlalocW]

3. I read an article once

That was basically a list that covered decades of various republicans - after every election whether they did well or not - saying something along the lines of, "We need to reach out to women/minorities/Black people/young people more."

They haven't bothered to do any of that. That's too hard, and they won't change their policies on anything if it means what's really important to them - tax breaks for the uber-wealthy - being put in jeopardy. We've already heard from some republicans what they're going to do, and it's what they did for those other groups - make it more difficult for them to vote.

[Me.]

4. Nate Silver On THis Week

basically said they are not really voting for anyone and that among 18-29 years olds the number remain around 13% overall, the same as years past.

[ificandream]

6. I don't agree with that.

For example, we've seen young people become activists after school shootings. I think they're more engaged in politics than we realize.

[Me.]

7. Engaged Yes

But voting in numbers?

[ificandream]

8. I think it begins there. Maybe not all of them at once, but as time goes on I think they will.

I have confidence that the younger generation of voters won't, for the most part, support Trumpian/Republican doctrine. They've seen the damage done, to use Neil Young's phrase.

[Me.]

9. I Do Hope So

THey are unhappy with how things are and voting is a major part of the solution

[Freddie]

28. My daughter probably wasn't going to vote

Until they decided that she and her 2 little girls were second class citizens. Multiply that by millions of Millennials.

[ProudMNDemocrat]

10. Being engaged with the issues will lead to more of them voting.

Think back to the 1960's. What engaged us was the Vietnam War, Pollution, Women's Rights, Civil Rights, Voting Rights, etc. It turned out people to vote. Now that generation are still protesting about similar issues as we engage our adult children and grandchildren with issues and to vote.

Many issues from the decades are still around as new ones enter the political arena because this country has become more diverse as have the needs of the people. It has been the GOP who have failed to adapt as their base continues to die out.

[tanyev]

11. LOL, Yell louder! Be even more hateful!

That'll attract them.

[Sky Jewels]

12. Yo, Republican Asswipes: You're screwn.

You have nothing to offer the younger generations. NOTHING. They don't want your racism, your hate for gay and trans people, your gun humping, your climate change denial, your tax breaks for billionaires, your plans to destroy affordable/free health care, your enthusiasm for saddling them with lifelong debt if they dare get a higher education, your government by oligarchy, your theocracy, and, especially, they don't want your stupid fucking PsychoChristian Handmaid's Tale future for women.

So give it up. You'll be Whigs soon.

[Skittles]

18. I agree with this assessment

I am impressed with the young folk I know, they don't subscribe to the GOP prescription to either hate people or be jealous of them.

[Sky Jewels]

31. Me too.

My kids are Gen Z (early-mid 20s) and they and their friends are super informed and progressive. They hate the GOP but also are not fans of the moderate-corporate Clintonian wing of the Democratic Party. People like Bernie and AOC speak their language.

[scarletlib]

49. 100% in agreement.

[ananda]

13. LOL... that's not gonna happen if the GQP continues with the meanshit cray cray.

And I for one do not see that changing.

[Sky Jewels]

14. They've got nothing.

If they moderate, they lose their loony-tunes base.
If they go ever crazier, they lose everyone else.

[ananda]

30. Good point.. a real catch 22.

Good

[Marthe48]

17. Over the holidays I saw family members

I was among the oldest in the groups, but from ages 20s to 70s, the people are entirely pissed off about Roe being repealed, and the idea that cases that recognized LGBQT rights, and other cases that gave large swathes of American families some peace of mind and protections might be repealed by this unelected, fascist majority. For some reason, I learned over these holidays that more of the younger people in my family are gay than I knew of before. They are going to vote to protect their personal lives and I hope they vote the r's off the map.

[FakeNoose]

35. Yes they are, and that's why this is a temporary blip

The struck-down ruling of Roe v. Wade is only going to last for a year or two. It's annoying, it's maddening, but it's also the wake-up call we've needed for the younger generation to get involved. This is their issue and they'll lead the demand for change.

We Baby Boomers had our wake-up call to end the Vietnam War and we told our parents - this is how it's going to be. The 20 and 30-year-olds of today will stand up and tell the rest of the country - we will have reproductive rights and freedoms. Every woman has the right to choose whether she'll be a parent or not.

It's not a fight for the Baby Boomers, even though most of us support it. We need to stand back and let the Gen Xers lead this.

[Wednesdays]

20. Gee, it seems Gen Z'ers aren't into racism and misogyny so much

Who'da thunk?

[vlyons]

21. "speaking to issues those voters care about" -- and what might those be?

How about a woman's right to control her body?
Raising the minimum wage
Making the wealthy pay their fair share of taxes
Affordable housing
Affordable college
Free day care for todlers
Free lunches for K thru 12
Stop demonizing LGBT
Stop demonizing immigrants and blacks
Stop gerrymandering elections

Oh never mind --- the degenerate GOP will never do any of the above.

[LaMouffette]

45. I would add these: addressing the climate crisis and passing common sense gun control laws.

But the Repubes would rather walk 10 miles on a bed of hot coals than take up either of these crucial causes, or any of the worthy items on your list, and so, they will continue to turn away young voters who are not as easily fooled by their bullshit as Fox News–watching older people are.

[Tree Lady]

25. Well not supporting pot even

When polls show overwhelmingly both sides want it doesn't help. Not helping school loans, at very least they could have super low interest federal loans.

Then there is the fact they are horrible at the environment for the future and our young actually want to live!

The youth of today are very pro choice, very open minded to genders and sexual preferences.

And not very religious.

[Aristus]

26. Even if they had a genuine motive for attracting younger voters,

they won't succeed on any measurable level. They don't know how. The only thing they've ever done for the last forty years is double down on their awfulness. Which is why we've seen a notable degeneration in the quality of their Presidents and other office holders in all that time. Reagan to Bush Sr. (who only lasted one term due to not being awful enough) to Bush Jr. (when any level-headed person would have thought the GOP had hit rock-bottom), to Trump (whose success in attaining the White House is proof that the GOP did hit rock-bottom, got out a Drifter drill, and kept going.)

The one thing the repukes have clung to in all that time is to never, ever soften their stance on anything. They built a billion-dollar media messaging apparatus for the express purpose of creating the kind of ideological echo chamber that prevents having to soften their stances in order to win votes.

Their ranks nowadays consist almost entirely of creaky, set-in-their-ways old men, and paralyzingly incompetent young people like MTG, Bo-Bo, and George Santos. They don't have what it takes to innovate. And if today's young voters don't see some capacity to change and improve, they won't vote GOP.

[onetexan]

29. "notable degeneration" - the party of Regressives has degenerated over all, not just in the

quality of their presidential candidates. When you are anti-progress, anti-democratic, anti-liberal press, anti-women, anti-diversity, anti-education & intellectualism, anti-science, anti-religious diversity, anti-social security and other entitlements (there being anti-aging, disabled & poor people), PRO-white nationalism, PRO-christofascism, PRO-authoritarianism... and yet you wonder why your party isn't appealing to the young? Moronic & laughable, because young people are much smarter than that.

[Demsrule86]

36. MTG is not young. She is 48 years old and will be 49 in May.

[AZLD4Candidate]

32. You mean Ben Shapiro, Charlie Kirk, Tomi Lahren, and Candace Owens aren't working out?

How about Nick Fuentes, Kanye, Ben Crowder, Kyrie Irving?

[carpetbagger]

46. It's working to keep the old folks angry, but the kids are seeing it

Disclosure: I'm at the young edge, but I'm in the old folks bracket.

[Texaswitchy]

33. Not Gen Z and Millennials are liberal and democrats.

A lot are but not all.

It took the abortion issue to get the young women out to vote.

There are a lot young conservative Republicans.

I am not counting my chickens before they hatch.

A young voters turned out for President Obama and went back to sleep.

[Demsrule86]

37. That is not true. Young voters helped elect President Biden. And unless we want to fail

despite favorable Demographics, people must realize that any Democrat is better than any Republican, and third parties will never win elections in a two-party system. In fact, consider the wreckage of the UK...while multiple liberal parties split votes, conservatives have been in office for 20 years or so. The UK has lost the ability to even feed itself and will likely lose Ireland and Scotland before it is over...possibly Wales as well.

[Texaswitchy]

39. So did a lot of age groups.

We were all sick of Trump.

To bad young folks didn't vote for Hillary. We would have been spared from Trump.


Put Bernie was so important.

The younger generation are not more liberal or progressive then any other group.

The abortion issue brought out the the vote, the Republicans just screwed up.

They are lots of young Republicans.

That is why Texas and Georgia has Republican governors.

The Gen X and Millennial vote is very Republican.

And Gen Z they have Rittenhouse and his group .

No I am not waiting Gen Z to save anything.

They will loose interest and stay home.

You have to entertain them.

[Martin68]

34. The GOP had a choice: engage with new demographics by finding out what they need, or go with

Trump. They made their decision and they're stuck with it for now. If the GOP starts to compromise and listen to the public, democracy wins.

[peggysue2]

38. Republicans have nothing to offer younger generations bc . . .

They're wedded to the past, embrace the myth of a Golden Age (when America was presumably perfect) and refuse to engage or even believe in the catastrophic underpinnings of unfettered capitalism, thereby supporting unpopular policy beloved only by their donors.

In addition, they have no respect for the diversity of our younger generation, go out of their way to heap on the hate and ignorance on anything or anyone who is different in lifestyle, appearance or perspective from their own.

Younger voters are about the future. Republicans clearly are not.

[JustABozoOnThisBus]

42. Either engage with younger voters, or find a way to stop them from voting.

In 2022, the Dobbs v Jackson decision brought them out in droves. Maybe in 2024, Republicans can re-institute the draft, but for both genders. Yeah, that'll work.

[Johonny]

47. Their whole message is that the young people are lazy freeloaders that hate America

and got soft on participation trophies. I can't understand why that message doesn't appeal to them.

How many young voters want to hear another pronoun joke direct at them or claims they're all pooping in a litter box at school?

[hatrack]

48. "Our 'policies' blow goats - we just didn't communicate effectively to promote them!"

[Sky Jewels]

52. A stronger Tik Tok presence should fix all that!

[Texaswitchy]

50. I do not think the Gen Z has the maturity level yet.

My little group of boomers took over a local Union when we're just kids in our mid 20's.

The white men running it didn't have a clue.

I understand revolution.

But we had knowledge and skills to handle it

We were all Union babies, our parents were in Unions.

We didn't burn down the building.

Not voting and having temper tantrum over Bernie was not smart.

The damage Trump did might not ever get repaired.

Now he installed the Supreme Court judges that took away Roe.

And lots of federal judges and lets not forget the virus we are still dealing with .

All secret documents Trump stoled.

I do the trust Gen Z not to do same thing again.

Also there are Republicans in Gen X, Millennials , and Gen Z generations

I do not see a big improvement coming.

[Sky Jewels]

53. If it weren't for Gen Z and Millennials

we'd be in the second Trump term. We'd have a very red Congress. We'd have lost governorships in key states.

The younguns came out in big numbers in '18, '20, and '22. They've saved our asses (along with Black women) many times.

They are much more progressive than preceding generations were at this point, and they're staying liberal as they age.

The younger generations are not the problem. It's the white conservative asswipes in Gen X (I'm a white Gen Xer), Boomers, and the generally very right-wing Silents (who, let's face it, are dwindling rapidly as a voting block).

(I know not everyone in the three older generations are right wingers, so please, DUers, don't respond to this with one of those comments like, "Well, I'm a Boomer and I'm very liberal!!" ... We know ... we know ...).