A GOP Out of Step with a Generation

There was a great story in Sunday's New York Times about the twenty-somethings in Missoula, Montana whom the headline describes as "Young, Liberal and Open to Big Government." I want to take issue with the headline a bit, then touch upon what these attitudes mean for the GOP, and finally lambast the GOP in Montana (though not only in Montana) for its reaction to the changing attitudes.

First, a bone to pick. Read the article and tell me if you think these are folks dedicated to the much lamented "big government." I think that's a very misleading description of the young people interviewed, and perhaps says more about where our political discourse lies right now. The article is chalk full of comments and evidence that folks in my generation are pretty sure there's a role for the government in the world that extends beyond the common defense. Government can provide a safety net, regulations, and education. When I read the article I got the sense that the folks they talked to didn't want the government to provide for them. They wanted a government that could provide a safe and level playing field. They wanted a government that could serve as a safety net should the cruel twists of fate befell them. I think that's radically different then any conception of "big government" we hear derisively bandied about.  I would also suggest that the folks they interviewed weren't prepared to give the government carte blanche.

Will Wilkinson has used the term "liberaltarian" to capture this trend, though I don't believe he coined the term. There is the liberal acceptance of a proper role of government that is to the left and prone to rankle those at the Cato Institute, but at the same time these same folks believe government shouldn't legislate many social issues like gay marriage and drug legalization. Indeed there are many days I'd consider myself in that number. I think the government should provide a level playing field but that there's not constitutional way for them to send a reaper after me without due process (and what a novel way to apply the death penalty). All this is by way of saying that the folks they interview weren't "big government" folks, they were "smart government" folks, which sounds a lot like a president I know.

So you have a generation coming up that believe in a limited role of government and much of that limitation is centered around social issues. That's not an encouraging sign for a GOP that's been dragged by its right flank further and further out of touch with young people, many independents, and science. After the 2012 election there were many who suggested the GOP go on its own sort of vision quest. Take stock of its policies and disposition, take some peyote, sing Kumbaya around a campfire, trip out because it's the first time they'd inhaled, and come back with some different policies. That's not really what happened. Instead of going out into the woods they went to Williamsburg. Instead of deep, drug-fueled introspection they have given shallow, hubris-ridden self-immolating speeches. The "lip stick on a pig" quote has become cliche, and yet apropos to the GOP response to a drifting electorate.  But that's not entirely true though.

Consider the article about Montana, the party, facing an electorate its increasingly out of touch with has started to pursue a policy:

The victories rattled Republican state lawmakers, who are now trying to undo a Montana law that permits voters to register on Election Day. Republicans say last-minute registration creates long lines and confusion.

You know what they say, if you can't convince them on the basis of your ideas; steal their franchise. There's only one word for this sort of behavior: pathetic. Strike that, there are two words: pathetic & dangerous. It's pathetic because instead of adapting to the changing attitudes in the country, attitudes that aren't nearly as left as say Eisenhower's, you want to take the football and go home. It's dangerous because it's a deliberate attempt to remove the vox populi from the system. And all this policy is framed as a solution to a problem that doesn't exist.

So, to review, young people appreciate there's a limited role for government. That doesn't make them "big government" liberals. And the GOP should have gone out into the Shenandoahs and embraced the cathartic effects of peyote (maybe even just go to Peyote Cafe, though that's a different catharsis), but instead they've decided to take away your vote because you're not voting for them. Man, who wants to go roast some marshmallows.