Calling All Young Conservatives

I now see – I am the rebel in this game.

I’m a New Yorker, a reformed Jew, a woman, a twenty-something, an artist, a pop culture fanatic. Based on all of these labels, I should be a liberal, at least that’s what Obama’s divisive campaign told me.

Right now, the youth can wake up to Michelle Obama on “iCarly,” grab breakfast with Obama on “The View,” drift to sleep while Obama is on “Letterman,” surf the magazine stand with Obama on “Rolling Stone,” and go online and watch Obama videos on YouTube.

I’m not saying that the liberal voice should be wiped out of the media, but where did the option of supporting the GOP go? Right now, America’s youth are not exposed to it.

This is the digital age. The age of an increasingly pervasive media voice. I do believe that whoever runs on the Republican ticket in 2016 will have to be something of a celebrity in that he or she will have to use all avenues of traditional and new media available to reach the people – but he or she also and most importantly must be a politician – endorsing concrete policies that reflect America’s greatness and strength. Obama only got one side of it right.

Imagine what we’d be capable of if we could merge the two.

We need our Meghan McCains, Katie Pavlichs, Peggy Noonans, Marco Rubios, Mia Loves — and we need young Americans to at least have the option of thinking they could be these people.

We need strong, youthful, patriotic, socially aware and varied voices to be aggressively injecting themselves into the media spotlight. And we need our forerunners to support us every step of the way.

But let’s not take the cheap shot of attacking the other party. Let’s spread messages of positive patriotism not only via traditional outlets but also on the Internet – which will be our main media platform in four years time. We need to be fostering viral videos, memes, more Instagram accounts, Tumblrs, trending hashtags, etc. in order to make sure that our voices are heard – latch onto the new and revolutionary platforms that will emerge in the next four years and claim our space.

I’m ready to start building the GOP up again into a party that can operate effectively in a contemporary setting and gain the support it deserves from America-loving people of all ages, races, sexual orientations, and genders.

Having retained my own values despite the propagandistic nature of the mainstream media, I continue to fight for financial and foreign policies over social policies. Is there something wrong with me? The media would paint me out to be coldhearted and boneheaded and then preach that they are openminded. All of my friends who voted for Obama because he’ll support gay marriage and he’s on the good side of the media-ployed “war on women” will likely receive the social standards for which they are fighting, but they’ll also inherit the massive debt that they didn’t consider in their little bubbles of peace and love.

The time is now. If the GOP wants to survive, it needs to be nurturing its youth. We have 1,460 days. Let’s go.

Author Bio:

Amanda is a writer and editor in New York and can be contacted at: amandawalgrove@gmail.com

laura

This is actually one of the more pathetic articles I’ve read describing the utter failure of the GOP. Yes, you are something of an enigma being a twenty-something woman conservative. Women in general, especially those in their twenties, are trending more towards the big-government, democratic platform. Why? Perhaps because it is more “open-minded” as you aptly point out, and it is full of peace and love, and some legal marijuana, too. But also, because the modern woman recognizes that big-government will allow her to prosper in a way that the republican platform will not. Republicans want to starve down government to its individual parts and deregulate as much as possible. Because, heaven forbid, the government control you! Cue creepy “Twilight Zone” music. Why don’t we use our government for its intended purpose, to control the otherwise out of control tax rates for the rich, tariffs on imports, trade with China, outsourcing, capital gains taxes, etc. etc. Controlling those things will be much more difficult with a small, deregulated government. Why don’t we use government to invest in infrastructure, education and research. Wouldn’t you be proud if the USA discovered a cure for cancer? Without government investment and funding, that may never happen.

What also may never happen if we elect a republican is equal rights for all. It is morally, and journalistically for that matter, irresponsible to dismiss social issues as you do above. The debate on social issues through the ages is part of what makes our country great. It is part of what makes you truly free. Tell me, would you have scoffed at the civil rights act? And for that matter, fellow woman, how would you have felt about suffrage? Do you dismiss education with the same irreverence? To speak of “social policies” with disregard, is to disregard basic human freedoms. You may not agree with gay marriage for personal reasons (based on your article, I’m assuming that’s the “social policy” you’re referring to), but to say you find financial and foreign affairs to be more important is just lame. These are cogs in the same wheel, and they won’t move without each other.

I think it’s time that republicans concede that Obama didn’t get RE-elected because he’s good at Facebook-ing or tweeting, or because Michelle Obama makes appearances on iCarly (newsflash that target audience isn’t of voting age), it’s because America believes we’ll be better off with him in the oval office. Because we have high hopes for America. It is all of these reasons that I, a twenty-something, reformed Catholic woman from New York, voted for Obama (for a second time). I voted for him because I believe in the constantly changing world and I want a president who reflects those changes. A modern president. I didn’t vote for him because of his celebrity status, or because I think life under Obama will be rainbows and butterflies and that eternal sunshine and happiness will span the earth. I voted for him because I believe in moving forward not backward (hello republican vaginal probes), and I believe that the best years are yet to come. #Forward #Obama2012 #trendyhashtags #WOMAN
Kiki

Meghan McCain is a RINO who probably voted for Obama. Pandering will only lose core voters, you can’t give away more free stuff or have lower morals then dems so they will still win low info voters. This amazing thing happens; these voters graduate college,grow up, start paying taxes, get married, have kids, and often become Republicans.
Alex

Bad fiscal policy costs money. Bad social policy costs freedom. As long as the Republican party includes evangelical views in its platform, they will be painted as anti-rights. If they can see through to call abortion a decided issue, and to leave marriage equality alone, they can come back. If they cannot, then like the Whigs and the Federalists, they will be replaced.
jbay

Amanda, I agree a lot with what you wrote! I too am a woman and a young professional and strongly believe we have to market ourselves better or we will still only be a party of what the main stream media portrays us, “old, rich, white guys.” I’m fed up with them telling me why I’m a Conservative and I think we have so much to offer to the table for minorities, women and young adults!
http://twitter.com/dhevel Diahn Hevel

Mr. Goldberg,
First of all, please continue to publish guest posts like this one. How refreshing!
One thing that’s really getting under my skin…we see all these older, white male guests on FNC shows this past week trying to articulate how the GOP could better connect with and secure more votes from all these other demographics. It’s mind-boggling to me why THESE guests are chosen over and over to get to share their “expertise” on how to do this. With all due respect to these very wise commentators, pundits, (including yourself) etc…why can’t FNC find real live youngerr males, females, african-american and latino guests to discuss this topic? I watched O’Reilly the other night dedicate almost his entire show (while he scratched his graying, white forehead) to this topic and guest after guest included zero females, youth, african-americans or latinos! Maybe he had some of them on the next night but I was too done with all that to watch him the rest of the week and I rarely miss the Factor.
DOOM

All tge GOP needs todo is nominate someone capable of beating Obama’s record. I didn’t think it would be that hard.
- http://twitter.com/Besomyka Besomyka
  
  Jon Huntsman was in the primary. He could have seriously challenged Obama on foreign policy. He was congenial, intelligent, and reality-based.
  
  Which is why he didn’t have a chance. Seriously, Bachmann and Cain had a better shot than Huntsman?!
  - GOPvoter
    
    Agree completely. Huntsman was the best qualified candidate and the most electable one too. He probably will be in 2016 too. I hope he runs again. (Everyone else in the 2012 field was unelectable in the general election. Huntsman had a real shot at winning but too many GOP primary voters paid attention to the entertainers, not the serious candidates.)
Qoheleth

We certainly don’t just need to do [fill in the blank with something we already pushed]. That said, our values are fine and most of those young folks will find that they agree with them once they’ve been “mugged by reality.” For some, that will be when (if?) they get their first paying job. For others, that will be when (if?) they buy a home and/or start a family.

I think Amanda’s completely right in thinking that we need ” strong, youthful, patriotic, socially aware and varied voices to be aggressively injecting themselves into the media spotlight.” And that those voices will have to be actively and thoroughly supported by those of us who still use words like “hip” to describe them.

The media will obviously do it’s job in pillorying these folks, calling them dumb, calling them traitors to their [fill in the demographic], and trying to get folks not to consider that they represent an “alternative narrative.” One thing our strategists are going to have to work long and hard on is how to place these folks so that the media doesn’t simply ignore them, how to do “end-runs” around the media when necessary so they’re forced to follow up on stories already out there, and how to un-spin (and yes, to some extent re-spin in the right direction) the media templates. That’s one place where Republicans really blew it this time around.
True Patriot

We just need to express our core values and show the rest of the county why they are wrong, not just telling them but to show them. Open their eyes what it is to be a true conservative. How liberalism is destroying the american dream. Show them why abortion is wrong. Show them why the so called safety net makes them lazy and they will never realize the full potential of life and liberty.
- http://twitter.com/Besomyka Besomyka
  
  Do you really think that people like me are ignorant of the conservative position? I live in Texas, it’s all I ever hear. I’ll cut to the chase: the approach you describe is doomed to fail because it is condescending and insulting. It might be better to identify problems that we both agree on and have a discussion on how to solve it rather than trying to convince me that ‘liberalism is destroying the american dream’.
  
  But, on the other hand, I kinda hope that you don’t come around and the entire Right is swept up in your hostile echo chamber of reality denial.
  - Mark Atherton
    
    And you say this while being condescending and insulting, and hoping the “entire Right” is destroyed rather than try to identify problems you agree with them on and discussing them.
    Hypocrisy, thy name is Besomyka.