Aaron Schock the Republican Party?

Where are the young Republicans at!?! Anyone?  Anyone? No really. Polls indicate that the GOP is losing the younger demographic between 18 and 29 years old. Apparently the party of “old white men” doesn’t appeal to the youngsters. But there is one Republican under 60…

His name is Aaron Schock and he is the youngest congressman at 27. With his good looks, he has been dubbed the "Brody Jenner of Congress." (I’m not sure who should be offended, Representative Schock or Brody?) Even liberals have taken notice of Schock, voting him the “hottest freshmen” congressman. And even Stephan Colbert has a man-crush for the Schockster. 

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Anyway, Congressman Schock is being heralded as the savior of the Republican Party since he’s young, handsome, articulate and media savvy. In fact, he has reached a new audience that the traditional GOP politician has not, with Schock’s TMZ outreach.

Wonder how many new votes that picture earned Schock and the GOP…  So does he represent the new wave of Republicanism? Or is he just a pretty face?

In terms of voting, the boyish congressman has not schock-ed the House. Schock has been a consistent traditional-Republican vote. No to the stimulus package.  No to stem cell research. No to the Lilly Ledbetter Pay Act. No to the expansion of environmental protections.

Not to be outdone by the boy wonder, the old guard of the Republican Party launched a “listening tour.”  Apparently, they will listen (and talk) to the people, but rest assured their party ideals will not change from these town hall events.

To thrive as a party, do Schock and the Republicans need only present their party principles in a fresh manner? Or do they need to overhaul some of their positions (à la pro-gay marriage and pro-sex ed. Megan McCain) to win over younger voters (or voters in general)?

Essentially how does the Republican Party win elections in the future?

Comments

[yolanda valdivia]

If the republican party wants to garner more supports they need to appeal to the middle. Leaning so far right is not going to help there cause. The only person really making any sense right now is Megan McCain. If more republicans were more like her I imagine that there be more youth considering looking at the party and listening to there policies, because right now a majority of the party sound crazy.
There is nothing wrong with religion etc... but trying to please the hard core conservative religious right of the party is really alienating so many people who might be more inline with the conservative party fiscally . If the conservative party wants more members they need to get more moderate on social issues.

[Sarah]

I think this new "young republican" trend is a sign of the GOP struggling to regain some ground, but I don't think its unified enough to do so. We've got Megan McCain on the one hand trying to create a new, more progressive GOP and then Schock who is simply just a youngin representing all the same traditional conservative ideals. While I personally hope the Megan McCain camp wins out if it means more bipartisanship for the country, I think it will be at least another generation before that happens.

[Sean]

My opinion is similar to Yolanda's. I always identified myself as a Republican because I believed in conservative fiscal and governmental policies; namely the all but forgotten concept that government is best with minimal regulation of the behavior of its citizens. I recognize the need for a strong, centralized government in combination with state government in regards to business and the maintenance of social goods, but I absolutely reject the role of government as a divining rod of morality in our nation.

If the Republican party continues to ignore the basic tenants of conservatism and focuses on emphasizing its social policy to get votes, I'll never return to it. To be clear, I am NOT an Obama fan and I find the mass hysteria that lead to his election rather frightening. The election is indicative of the political conditions of our age; appearance trumps all other virtues. One funny (or scary, depending on how you look at it) example is the following video when McCain's policies were explained to potential voters as Obama's.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GqAiarOhC2U

While I understand this is strictly anecdotal, I would have loved to see the results of a serious, representative survey done like this.

Ultimately, I'm willing to throw away (and that is pretty much what I consider it) more money due to the increased tax rates supported by Democrats than disregard my open support for gay marriage (I'm an active Hetero's for Homo's member), stem cell research, and secular governance.

Since neither of the major parties are interested in minimizing regulation, the size of the federal government, or fiscal responsibility, social issues seem like the only thing my vote could influence. The "one elite, two party" system is failing the American people.

[FDR]

Sean,

Isnt less government (i.e. deregulation) what got us into this financial crisis in the first place? And it didnt really work out so well when we deregulated the electricity markets in California. Less government means less regulation means more trusting the private sector to play it straight, be honest, and not take advantage of people...I think the last 8 years pretty much proved they are utterly incapable of that. So, Im not sure less government is the solution...its smarter, better government.