In the aftermath of Tuesday’s election, the data is showing that millennials turned out to vote for Trump in far greater numbers than predicted, while Clinton’s numbers slipped significantly from Obama’s millennial turnout in 2012. This election was indeed an incredible upset victory.
But it was the minor-party candidates that performed strongest among voters under 30, even among self-described conservatives who took to third-party voting as a form of protest. And there are still many NeverTrump millennials taking to social media and not wanting to concede their NeverTrump badge in the name of that protest.
These NeverTrumpers are saying the same general sentiments: “Ok, I was wrong about Trump having no chance of winning. Let’s hope I’m wrong again and he’s a decent president. I’ll see if he actually implements a good conservative policy. Prove it.”
Fellow conservative millennials, please don’t wish “us” godspeed as if you’re part of “them.” Today we should remember that we are all still conservatives. Trump is indeed the president-elect. OUR president-elect. He will need input and help from every conservative American.
This isn’t the time to sit back with arms folded and say “prove me wrong.”
It’s time to let go of “NeverTrump.” We shouldn’t begin 2017 in an adversarial relationship. We’re all still Americans and will be represented by the Trump Administration this January, so it’s equally your responsibility to help the conservative fight as much as it is also my responsibility.
It’s time to unify not behind a particular party or even a particular candidate anymore, but rather behind our president, our Constitution, and the principles and values of liberty and freedom that every conservative American holds dear.
It’s time to move forward together realizing that conservative ideology issues genuinely have a chance to be heard in the Trump Administration and implemented through a GOP-dominated Congress and at least one Supreme Court seat filled.
The goal isn’t to prove anything to you. Our mutual goal should be to roll up our sleeves and get to work preserving and protecting our unalienable rights and defending our Constitution, like every other day since 1787.
We have the greatest opportunity for legitimate resurrection of the truths and values that shaped America’s heritage.
This opportunity cannot be squandered through a “prove me wrong” attitude or a dogged adherence to the NeverTrump movement. I get why you were NeverTrump. But I hope you will be first and foremost a conservative.
Every conservative millennial should take hold of this opportunity and look for ways to meaningfully contribute and influence on the state and federal level. Let go of your protests, unify, and move forward. This is our torch to carry for at least the next four years, and really, the next 40.
