Ohio Gov. John Kasich said the ascension of millennials will put an end to the Republican Party’s move toward nationalism.
Kasich said on “Fox News Sunday” millennials don’t want to support a political party that’s going to be focused on social issues while ignoring things like the environment. Republicans may be turning “inward” now, but eventually they will have to change to get those votes.
“We are seeing the rise of millennials in the 2018 election, they are now going to equal the baby boomers and what does that mean?” Kasich said. “They think profoundly differently than what this inward-looking group of Republicans care about, because they care about the environment, they don’t want to focus on all the social issues, they understand America’s place in the world, they are comfortable with global outreach.”
He added most of the Republican Party is not in the nationalist camp being promoted by people like Breitbart CEO and former White House official Steve Bannon.
“I think the bulk of the Republican Party believes that America is special and has a place in the world to advance freedom and free enterprise and all those things,” he said. “I think that this move towards nationalism were looking inward, a lot of loud voices but I don’t think it’s the bulk.”
Millennials are going to change the political thinking for both major parties as they become a more and more prominent demographic.
“What’s going to happen over time is that the gen X and millennials will begin to overtake the baby boomers and it will mean a profound shift in the way both the Republican Party and the Democratic Party function and the question is in some sense, they are up for grabs because right now they are leaning independent and the question is, who appeals to them?” he said.
