The Conservative Generation Gap

[DittoHead]

This is a fantastic article - the viewpoints & reasoning he ascribes to young conservatives certainly ring true to me.
https://www.weeklystandard.com/shapiro-win-back-young-americans

This is quite a gap:

Opposing Trump with a presidential primary challenger would be an exercise in futility—polls show that a huge majority of Republicans want to see Trump renominated. But that doesn’t hold true among younger Republicans. An incredible 82 percent of Republican and Republican-leaning voters between the ages of 18 and 24 say they “want another Republican to challenge President Trump for the party’s nomination in 2020.” So do 57 percent of those aged 25 to 34 and 58 percent of those aged 35 to 44. Compare that number with the 74 percent of Republicans over the age of 65 who oppose a primary challenge, and you’ve got a chasm the size of the Grand Canyon.

He makes a lot of great points but this one really stood out:

because young conservatives and older conservatives disagreed about the consequences of 2016, they also disagreed about the level of risk to the Republican party. This marks the third distinction between young and older conservatives regarding Trump: Thanks to the crisis mentality of older Americans, the brand damage done by Trump became of secondary concern; thanks to the lack of a crisis mentality among younger conservatives, the brand damage done by Trump became a crucial problem.

I do believe a significant factor is the lack of a "crisis mentality" in the younger population, I think that certainly explains a lot of my differences in opinion with the older folks.

[Hawkmoon]

I am not of the opinion that there ARE any "young conservatives" today.

[brimic]

The trigglypuffs and hipsters get all of the media coverage, but I’ve seen plenty of evidence that the generation reaching voting age by 2020 may be the most conservative in living memory.

[lupinus]

The trigglypuffs and hipsters get all of the media coverage, but I’ve seen plenty of evidence that the generation reaching voting age by 2020 may be the most conservative in living memory.

I will agree.

And while I think the article overplays the zomg young conservatives hate Trump card, it does make it's good points as well. And why old formulas, values, etc don't always work as well with up and coming voters. They don't care about a lot of the things older generations did, or continuing to fight battles long fought and lost. Some of which they don't oppose anyway. And they are generally a much more small l lebertarian minded voter than the party line Republican.

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[lupinus]

I am not of the opinion that there ARE any "young conservatives" today.

And you'd be extremely wrong. But hey, bury your head in the sand if you like.

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[Perd Hapley]

because young conservatives and older conservatives disagreed about the consequences of 2016, they also disagreed about the level of risk to the Republican party. This marks the third distinction between young and older conservatives regarding Trump: Thanks to the crisis mentality of older Americans, the brand damage done by Trump became of secondary concern; thanks to the lack of a crisis mentality among younger conservatives, the brand damage done by Trump became a crucial problem.

Perhaps younger conservatives, not yet having experienced decades of GOP failure and fecklessness, don't realize how poor the brand already was. I have my doubts that Trump's tendency to get things done will turn out to be worse for the Republican brand than what the Bushes, and Boehners, and Ryans, et al, did for it.

[DittoHead]

Perhaps younger conservatives, not yet having experienced decades of GOP failure and fecklessness, don't realize how poor the brand already was. I have my doubts that Trump's tendency to get things done will turn out to be worse for the Republican brand than what the Bushes, and Boehners, and Ryans, et al, did for it.

I do agree with this to a certain extent - the GOP brand has been declining. But I also think the issue is muddied by the relationship between the GOP and the larger conservative movement. For some people they are synonymous and some they aren't. Conservatives may try to distance themselves from Trump while still calling themselves conservatives but I think the GOP would have a harder time of doing that - not that it necessarily wants to. Young libertarians may belong to the conservative movement but want nothing to do with the GOP. I'm not sure exactly how this translates to elections when the GOP is still the option you get on your ballot - it probably depends on how bad the opposing candidate is and comes back to that crisis mentality or lack there of.

[brimic]

I do agree with this to a certain extent - the GOP brand has been declining. But I also think the issue is muddied by the relationship between the GOP and the larger conservative movement. For some people they are synonymous and some they aren't. Conservatives may try to distance themselves from Trump while still calling themselves conservatives but I think the GOP would have a harder time of doing that - not that it necessarily wants to. Young libertarians may belong to the conservative movement but want nothing to do with the GOP. I'm not sure exactly how this translates to elections when the GOP is still the option you get on your ballot - it probably depends on how bad the opposing candidate is and comes back to that crisis mentality or lack there of.

The GOP, as a brand, needs to die. As absurd as it sounds, if the GOP were to go bankrupt, the Dems would bail them out, as the GOP is weak opposition that screens out most conservatives and libertarians.

[Perd Hapley]

The GOP, as a brand, needs to die. As absurd as it sounds, if the GOP were to go bankrupt, the Dems would bail them out, as the GOP is weak opposition that screens out most conservatives and libertarians.

On the other hand, the GOP brand still draws gobs of voters, in most states, so it does have its strengths.

[MechAg94]

I have heard Shapiro interviewed and he seemed like a smart guy, but he comes off as a never-Trumper, big govt neo-con sometimes.  Maybe I am reading too much into it.  That, and I have gotten to where I don't trust any polling data I hear about until I know more about how it was conducted.   

I am not sure the younger generation even defines liberal and conservative the same.  Considering the way Republican candidates have behaved since Reagan, "Conservative" doesn't mean a whole lot.  Few even attempt to talk about lower taxes and smaller govt.  Few attempt to talk about free market economics.  Abortion and other social issues often get pushed to the front since more liberal Republicans see them as safe things to talk about.

[Perd Hapley]

Shapiro is definitely not a pro-Trump guy, but from what I've seen, he doesn't hesitate to praise Trump when it's deserved. He said he would wear a MAGA hat, if Trump actually nominated a conservative justice, and they both kept their promises on that one.