Good news!:
College GOP chairman resigns, joining Democrats
The chairman of the Mississippi Federation of College Republicans has resigned his post and "will be changing my party affiliation to Democrat in the next few days."
Evan Alvarez resigned his post this morning, which was made public by a release sent out by MFCR with a copy of his resignation. In the letter, he says that tea party activists have too much of a voice in the party, "and because of that, the platform of the Republican Party has shifted too far to the right in my opinion."
In a separate email..., he says he has already begun talking with Democrats about joining their party.
More good news:
"The Millennial generation is forging a distinctive path into adulthood. Now ranging in age from 18 to 31, they are relatively unattached to organized politics and religion, linked by social media, burdened by debt, distrustful of people, in no rush to marry— and optimistic about the future.
They are also America’s most racially diverse generation. In all of these dimensions, they are different from today’s older generations. And in many, they are also different from older adults back when they were the age Millennials are now.
Pew Research Center surveys show that half of Millennials (50%) now describe themselves as:
1) political independents and
2) about three-in-ten (29%) say they are not affiliated with any religion.
These are at or near the highest levels of political and religious disaffiliation recorded for any generation in the quarter-century that the Pew Research Center has been polling on these topics."
Even better news:
"At the same time, however, Millennials stand out for voting heavily Democratic and for liberal views on many political and social issues, ranging from a belief in an activist government to support for same-sex marriage and marijuana legalization."
Don't worry; be happy:
"While the 2014 elections may be favoring the Republican party, a new Pew Research study has some encouraging data for progressives and liberals, reflecting a growing electorate that is quickly evolving on many social issues.
The data could spell real trouble for conservatives who steadfastly continue to allow religious views to drive their political agendas.
Using data from a Pew Research Center survey conducted Feb. 14-23, 2014 among 1,821 adults nationwide that examines the trends and ideological beliefs of Millennials – those now ranging in age from 18 to 33, - the study highlights some startling and very encouraging findings.
Included in the findings is the revelation that, although a full half of those surveyed identified themselves as political independents (a record high), “…Millennials stand out for voting heavily Democratic and for liberal views on many political and social issues, ranging from a belief in an activist government to support for same-sex marriage and marijuana legalization.”
In an article about the study, the New Yorker Magazine - while correctly pointing out that white conservative voters are literally dying off - uses the following graphic to illustrate the stark differences by race of how voters view the role of government, writing:
Conservatives have a double problems with millennial voters. The first is that they’re much less white than older voters, which means that, as time goes on, Republicans would need to get much higher voting margins among millennial whites merely to stay even.
But the second problem is that millennial whites have more liberal views than older whites. Support for smaller government polls in the +40-to-+50 range among Generation X and Baby Boomer whites, but only +13 among millennial whites. Universal health insurance polls at around -20 points among older whites, but only -10 among millennial whites."
The Kids Are All Right, Part I
The Kids Are All Right, Part II
11 comments:
Good riddance to Mr. Alvrez! You're welcome to him. He's exactly the sort of wavering waffling weak-willed wimp of a person the GOP does not need -- and should never want -- ampng their ranks.
GOOD NEWS, INDEED!
(Metaphorical) DEATH to RINOS!
"A few good men" -- emphasis on GOOD -- is all it takes to achieve dominance. The moral equivalent of flies in the buttermilk we do not need.
WE SHALL OVERCOME!
Keep 'em ignorant and poor and the young'uns will stay with the Republican Party.
Problem solved
Mr. F.T. you missed what the surveys have recorded. Fewer and fewer young people identify with conservative policies and ideology. Fewer and fewer young people are adhering to any religion.
The Tea Party--the extremist wing of the GOP--is not liked by a majority of the American people, young, middle aged, and old. The T-GOP has LOST followers, not increased them.
Although the extremists believe they've won some ideological victories, they fail to see that they are not the future of this country.
People like Mr. Alavrez and the rest of young America are overwhelmingly independent AND liberal.
Pretending this is not the future of America will not make it so.
Wishful thinking doesn't work -- unless you live in the Land of Lost Boys.
H.C.C., yes, that sounds like a plan. NOT.
Baggers never believe facts. To them, they're inconvenient truths to whack away like pesky gnats.
Baggers' beliefs:
No global warming.
No poverty in the south (or if there is, it's Obama's fault.)
No war on women.
No war on science (creationism and intelligent design are equal to the Theory of Evolution).
And on and on and on.
We've got to get the government working for the majority of us instead of primarily for the wealthy... so the realization that an "activist government" can be a force for good is bad news for Republicans and Libertarians.
"Fewer and fewer young people identify with conservative policies and ideology"
That is not a new concept. Even fifty years ago if you were young and not a liberal you had no heart and if you were older and were a liberal you had no brains. That was when liberals were against big government and against government controlling their lives. A lot has changed and will in the future but for now Apathy Abounds.
It is always easier for those who are taken care of to want to take care of others. Once they have to foot some of the bill many will change their minds. With the kick the can debt of our current elected elite, they will have plenty to pay for.
It is likely the 18-31 age group will grow more conservatve as they age.
A true RESPONSIBLE fiscal conservatism is what the republican party needs to represent if it is to retain any relevancy whatsoever.
At the same time it needs to back away from the religous fundamentalism, hawkish war stance, embrace reproductive choice, and in general become more accepting and inclusive of diversity.
In a nutshell... fiscally responsible and conservatve and liberal and libertine on social issues.
Tea Party folks simply will continue to dwindle in number and if the party is smart it will start reforming soon.
You are right Shaw, many middle age and older have tired of the gridlock and other BS the TP Wing of the republican party has been largely responsible for.
Apparently the Tea Party is aware of the 'problem'-
"We cannot continue to let that happen. It is time to stop ceding the intellectual high ground to the left and start engaging young people. If we bother to have a conversation with young voters, they might just listen.”
Danny Surman is the founder and Chairman of the Youth Leadership PAC. (Tea Party-MN)
-perhaps if they used correct spelling on their haranguing
signs they might begin to approach 'the intellectual high ground'?
That was when liberals were against big government and against government controlling their lives.
It mostly remains true that conservatives are the party of government restriction of personal freedom while liberals are, well, liberal. In the most intimate and personal spheres of life -- individual control over one's own reproductive processes, variant sexuality, freedom to experiment with harmless psychoactive substances, separation of church and state -- the right wing is increasingly committed to theocratic totalitarianism, while it's the left that defends individual freedom.
Right-wingers are better at standing up for gun-ownership rights, I'll give them that. Aside from that, when they talk about "freedom", it's mostly just code for (further) cutting taxes on the oligarchy and enlarging the ability of corporations to trample on the freedom and safety of actual people.
It is likely the 18-31 age group will grow more conservatve as they age.
There's no reason to think so. The popular idea that people get more conservative as they get older is a myth. It's fueled by the correct observation that, at any given time, older people are typically more conservative than younger people. However, those same older people in most cases were even more conservative when they were younger than they are now. They only appear highly conservative relative to their younger contemporaries.
The ideological views people form in youth tend to stay stable or move leftward as they get older.
Think of what attitudes about race, homosexuality, women's place in society, etc. were like in, say, 1960 -- even among young people. Those same young people, now in their seventies, are far less likely to hold such reactionary views today.
"Think of what attitudes about race, homosexuality, women's place in society, etc. were like in, say, 1960"
On those mine haven't changed. The issue is financial and the burden we are passing on to our children. The middle class is disappearing and we are becoming a have and have not society. Two parent households are becoming the exception and a minimum wage job and welfare are acceptable career choices.
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