The GOP

Once Grand, Never Again

When I grew up in the South I idolized the GOP because my parents did. My dad was a hard working contractor who built his business from scratch, so of course his support is going trend red. I used to see the president and politicians in an almost aura-like state. Though I was young when Clinton was impeached I still was giddy with joy because he was a Democrat, and in the south you hate those Democrats.

I used to aspire to be a Republican, and fulfil my duty to vote for a just cause. I remember the first time I voted, the feeling of finally doing something meaningful. However, voting has never been that way since. I think it might have been because the church I vote at always managed to run out of voter stickers before I finished voting. What is the point of voting unless you can prove to your neighbors that you are as patriotic as they?

With my feelings of joy being replaced with apathy, I again gazed over the ballot, and again was disappointed that I had somehow let it come to this. We are told in school that every vote counts, but when faced with a choice between two people whom you did not and cannot support, your vote seems meaningless. It is a connection problem. The connection between the cause and the result. When I anonymously check a candidate, I do not see the end result immediately, and in this highly connected world, expediency is king.

Yes, if my guy wins I am rapturous, and rush to gloat. The caveat being that the opposite happens when my guy loses. Uncertainty of tomorrow, feelings of doubt, investment in rare earths, and the stockpiling mattress cash to name a few. That feeling passes eventually though, its half life equal to that of the first 90-100 days of the new presidency or congressional session. Afterwards life becomes normal again and I wait another two years for the rush and dissapointment.

This is where the problems begin in the space in between.

In between the primaries, the political push, and the overall election cycle, lies the swaying point. The point where if things are going great, the undecided public stays with their team, if things are going bad, all lifeboats set sail. This is where little stories become big ones out of pure boredom, and both parties are struggling for the American public to retain interest in the political system. This is why the Republican party is struggling.

They cannot manage this political gap effectively, and must rely on a passionate blitzkrieg to get the party rallied again in an election year. This constant stopping and stalling, complaining and whining, tires the public to a point of exhaustion.  In the end, after each cycle, it takes more and more momentum, more rallying speeches, even a party convention to spark interest in the cause.

The aging party is slowly wearing itself out.

Looking tired to the young and hip democrats. The democrats who do not mind you skateboarding on the sidewalk outside their house. The democrats who will not bug you as much, you just sit back in relax, they'll take care of everything. Just get up on a Tuesday in November and vote blue, so you won't have to be!

Because the 1980s republicans are slowly becoming a distant memory, the next generation is coming along and the GOP is panicked because they are not voting Republican. The ideologues in the party are afraid to rethink their positions on core issues, and fail to see a generation that is fighting desperately to not become like their parents. The 33 year old single mother, the 33 year old occupy protester, the 33 year old unemployed. All of which see Republicans as a danger to their livelihood, and as a representation of their parents telling them what to do.

What is the worst thing I can do to upset my parents? Vote Democrat.

What upsets my mom more than anything that I will ever do? Not voting.

Voting is a point of pride in my family, public service even more. Why can't the GOP simply open up to more healthy debates that will fulfill both points of pride in my family? Why can't they invoke that same feeling when I was 18 and I was fulfilling my duty to the Nation?

Until they can recapture the spirit of the next generation, the republican party will go the way of the Whigs and become a mere footnote in American history.