Aaron Schock is currently the youngest member in Congress. What might be surprising, given the current woes of the Republican Party reaching out to young voters, is that he's a Republican. And thankfully, he's a very articulate and likable one.
The 27-year-old has been in the news lately for standing up under the pressure of Obama's charisma... and offers of trips on Air Force One. Our new President flew Schock to his hometown of Peoria, IL, for his speech to workers at Caterpillar. Obama was trying to gain support for the recently-passed stimulus bill, and he was hoping Schock would be pressured into casting a "Yea". He wasn't.
Schock isn't completely new to national attention, though. In September, he took the stage for a couple minutes (literally) at the Republican National Convention.
The face of the Republican Party to college students got a bit of a facelift today: the College Republicans updated their website. There are a couple things about the new site we liked, such as the Twitter feature. But beyond that, we honestly weren't blown away. The design is sub-par, to put it nicely.
One user was a bit more blunt when using the new Twitter feature to say, "wow crnc.org fell out of the ugly tree and hit every branch on the way down."
Now design isn't everything... but it is something. Obama wouldn't have been as popular as he was if his website had also looked like it was designed in 1998.
Our goal isn't to put the College Republicans down; they do a lot of great stuff. But we do want to help them by being truthful. If they want to be appeal to young voters, they have to improve the quality of their marketing.
In case you missed it, Michael Steele became the new RNC Chairman last week. He said in his acceptance speech that "it's time for something completely different." He wasn't joking.
Yesterday, Steele gave legs to his rhetoric by asking the 100 staff members at the RNC to resign. He has certainly wasted no time in bringing change to the Republican Party.
So what do you think? Was Steele the right choice? Was getting rid of all RNC staffers a smart move?
You can read more about Steele cleaning house here.
We have a new president. This reality has set in for many of us after months of media-driven euphoria culminating in a historic inauguration. Now it's back to politics.
But before you get too carried away with questioning the policies of the new administration, your friends here at The Relevant Elephant have a friendly reminder: don't lose focus.
Remember that the Republican Party must become relevant once again to young voters. Until that happens, we'll be "wandering in the wilderness" for decades to come. So while it's natural to go negative on bad policies, try and focus on what we as conservatives must do to once again win the hearts and minds of young voters.
Upon the election of our new President, Barack Obama, many of my friends (even conservatives) encouraged me to give our new leader a chance. I agreed with that request. I did my best to believe (maybe out of naivety) that despite his record, I would give the chance of hope to our new President. Today, I must announce that I rescind that hope. The fact of the matter is that within days of taking office, President Obama has made dastardly executive orders that only prove his record as the most liberal United States Senator.
Obama signed a Presidential executive order today that lifts the ban (placed by the Bush administration) on overseas abortion funding. One day after the 36th anniversary of the Roe v. Wade court decision, the order will reverse the policy that “requires any non-governmental organization to agree before receiving U.S. funds that they will 'neither perform nor actively promote abortion as a method of family planning in other nations.'”
The focus within the Republican Party since the election has been on who the new RNC Chairman will be. Like we said previously, this is an important job. It's not the only one, though.
The Republican Party needs good leaders at all levels, including the state and grassroots levels. We need leaders that can communicate the benefits of conservatism. It is relevant, after all. We also need more young leaders in the party.
Young voters care about the environment. Republicans have made it seem like they don't. That's a shame because, as David Frum points out in the video below, protecting the environment has been strong part of the Republican past. It needs to be a part of the future.
This doesn't mean we should all run out and hug a tree (although they are lovely). It does mean we should be realistic in figuring out how we damage our environment and then look for market-based solutions to fix the problems.
The verdict is still out on who the new RNC chairman will be. While we don't know who it'll be, we do know how they would plan to attract young voters back to the Grand Ol' Party.
The candidates recently went through a round of debate as part of the selection process. During said debate, a question was asked: how can the GOP be more attractive to young voters?
This question was based on the statement that many within the party have said the young vote is important, yet few have laid out clear plans how to reach them.
This question is important; any re-birth of the Republican Party depends on it. So what did they say? You can watch the video below:
Liberals are personally stingy. A recent NY Times article by a self-proclaimed liberal bemoans the fact that conservatives give 30% more to charity than do liberals. Maybe this is why those leaning left are in favor of government handouts.
I'm sure this comes as a shock to liberals. They have given conservatives a label of not caring for the poor. That's wrong. We just think it's our responsibility as individuals and community members to help them.
As the new year starts, a major question remains: what is the future of the Republican Party? It might take several years to figure out. One of the first steps, though, is determining who will be the new RNC chairman.
While most of us never hear much about the RNC chairman, it's an important job. Six candidates have dropped their name in the hat, all with their own hopes and visions for the direction of the party. One of the six is current chairman, Mike Duncan, who is seeking a second term.
What do you think? Give Duncan another shot, or is it time for new blood?
To learn more about the election process, click here.
If you could secretly give Republican officials four suggestions, what would they be? Charlie Cook, from the National Journal, recently gave that opportunity to two leading political consultants. Here are their best thoughts, in our opinion:
1) The desire for change in the 2008 election was because of the damaged Republican brand, resulting from corruption scandals, high spending, and not addressing the problems people really care about.
As everyone knows, Democrats used this thing called the "Internet" a little better than Republicans in the past election. Rebuild the Party hopes to change that.
The group of conservatives behind the website have a plan to get the Republican Party back in the game, using new technologies to build a grassroots movement. While Rebuild the Party doesn't talk about strategy or the issues, it does address something very important: how the Republican Party communicates those issues. You can check it out here.
Over at Politico.com, they recently had a discussion on the question, "What's the most important first step Republicans should take on the road to recovery?" Below are several of our favorite responses.
Zach Wamp, Rep. (R-Tenn.): First steps should include laying out policies to bring about bipartisan compromises on major issues in the areas of energy, healthcare and the economy.
Since Sarah Palin lost her bid to become the first female VP, buzz of a 2012 presidential run has surrounded her. Buzz can be a good thing, especially if you're wanting to change your public image (and make some money off writing a book).
Despite recent losses, many conservatives are optimistic about the future. But not all. David Frum, a conservative columnist, thinks it a little too optimistic to predict a Republican return in 2010.
Frum gives four reasons why it will take longer, with his main reason being "the collapsed intellectual state of the party." You can read the entire article here and see if you agree.
The next Republican presidential candidate will likely be a current governor. That much is clear. What's unclear is which governor it will be. Many think, and hope, it will be Bobby Jindal from Louisiana.
Mr. Jindal, a 37 year-old Indian American, recently told fellow governors that Republicans have failed to inspire. "We should stand for the American dream," he said. He went on to blame Republicans in Washington for cutting taxes without cutting spending, and for not providing solutions to problems.
Today's Economist has an interesting article, "Ship of fools," about why Republicans lost the election. The author is a little harsh and doesn't mince words - as you can probably tell from the title - but his basic point is sadly accurate.
"There are any number of reasons for the Republican Party’s defeat on November 4th. But high on the list is the fact that the party lost the battle for brains... Republicanism’s anti-intellectual turn is devastating for its future. The party’s electoral success from 1980 onwards was driven by its ability to link brains with brawn. The conservative intelligentsia not only helped to craft a message that resonated with working-class Democrats, a message that emphasized entrepreneurialism, law and order, and American pride. It also provided the party with a sweeping policy agenda. The party’s loss of brains leaves it rudderless, without a compelling agenda."
The Party must become relevant to a majority of Americans once again. This means actually making an effort to reach young voters and addressing the problems facing the middle class. Our answers don't resonate with people anymore because they're solutions for old problems. Conservatives fixed the problems they set out to conquer at the outset of the Reagan Revolution, and the results of that can be seen in our country's overall prosperity in the last 28 years.
And yet, there is still more work to be done. We must apply conservative principles to a new set of problems, such as health care, energy, the environment, social security, and international development.
