According to a recent study by American National Election Studies, published by FiveThirtyEight, the GOP has become older, whiter, and less educated.
The American Electorate is, on the other hand, drifting in the opposite direction. A younger, more diverse generation is rearing its head. One with a better educated core that is now the largest generation in America.
According to the Pew Research Center, immigration is a big part of why millennials are now the largest generation, which hasn’t seen its peak yet. The peak of this generation is projected to be in 2036, and if this generation remains as progressive as it currently is, that’s really bad news for the Republican Party as we know it.
That doesn’t mean it’s bad news for the United States. This likely means in order to survive, the GOP will have to adopt more progressive ideas.
Conservatives Continually In The Dark
Currently, Republicans are in the minority on some really important issues. Because of the progressiveness of the rising American Electorate, they won’t be the majority any time soon.
This doesn’t mean that these free-market, trickle-down, supply-side people need to change all of their stances.
Conservative values can remain strong on things like strong national defense and individual liberty, but they need to become more progressive on a few issues that are becoming increasingly important to Millennials.
On Gay Marriage
One of the main issues that Conservatives are in the dark on is gay marriage.
According to a May 2016 Gallup poll, 61 percent of Americans favor of gay marriage. This isn’t an opinion you’ll find among a majority of Republicans. According to a Reuters/Ipsos poll that found over 60 percent of Republicans opposed the Supreme Court’s decision to legalize gay marriage all across the country.
In order for the GOP to attract more young voters, they will have to change their platform to be more progressive toward marriage equality. The Boston Globe found that almost two-thirds of Millennials support same-sex marriage.
On Abortion
The same can be said for Abortion. Millennials are less religious than previous generations, which means they won’t have the same religious opposition to things like abortion or gay marriage. That’s not good news for conservatives, who base a lot off their platform on religion. That’s where the term Christian Right comes from, and why current conservatives still try to appeal to evangelicals that want America to be a Christian nation.
A Gallup poll on abortion from May 2016 found that only 19 percent of Americans are completely against abortion, no matter the circumstance.
The current GOP platform wants to defund Planned Parenthood and outlaw abortion in many circumstances. This is a stance they should re-consider to appeal to the Rising American Electorate. They don’t have to come around all the way, as that same poll found that only 29 percent believe abortion should be legal in any circumstances.
A nice moderate approach on abortion should be able to garner some more support from younger audiences.
On Gun Control
Something that the GOP definitely needs to change its mind on is gun control. Current republicans are voting against public opinion on gun control and are being controlled by gun lobbyists from the NRA.
Not only is this against what their constituents want, it is nearly sickening.
Only one Republican, Senator Mark Kirk, voted for both measures to expand background checks and restrict access to guns for people on the terror watch list. Only one.
These aren’t just popular measures – these are some of the most popular measures. Nearly 90 percent of Americans supported both, and it’s embarrassing that they were handily rejected.
In order to appeal to the younger electorate, the Republican Party not only needs to change its mind on some gun control measures, but it needs to get away from NRA money. People are rapidly changing their mind on the NRA, and it’s unlikely it will remain a positively viewed group when Millennials are at their peak.
On Climate Change
Possibly the most important issue for the GOP to turn on is Climate Change.
Climate Change is a serious issue, and 97 percent of climate scientists agree that it is caused predominately by humans. So why is it that the GOP currently nominated a presidential and vice presidential candidate that deny that fact?
It’s hard to say. Part of it may be that they think liberal intellectuals are trying to take advantage of them with an elaborate hoax. Or it may be that it’s just too hard to understand. Either way, for some reason conservatives don’t see climate change as an important issue, ranking it 21 out of 23.
According to a study by the Pew Research Center, only 24 percent of Republicans acknowledge the fact that human activity is the cause of global warming. This isn’t a popular idea among college educated Millennials, who a majority of understand that it is in fact caused by humans.
Many Millennials understand how important climate change is, and want to vote for affirmative action to fight it. This is an issue that will undoubtedly become more prominent as the effects of climate change grow, and the education on climate change increases.
If the GOP wants to stay alive, it needs to adopt a more progressive platform on the environment.
