Millennials are detached from standard political party alignment, as evidenced by a Pew Research study showing that only 31 percent believe there’s a considerable difference between the two major parties, and over half identify as independent.
This split from standard political alignment is disconcerting, especially to the GOP, a party that continually pushes policies that go against millennial views.
Take same-sex marriage for example: 68 percent of millennials support it, while 55 percent of Generation X’ers support it. The detachment between millennials and older generations continues throughout the issues.
This shift in support will continue to prove more troublesome as Gen X dies off. Millennials have already surpassed baby boomers as America’s largest generation, as of 2015.
It’s confusing why the GOP hasn’t tried to modernize their platform to attract more millennials. Before the RNC convention, the platform committee failed to adjust any millennial-related issues. Even the slightest shift was shot down, one of which was recognizing the LGBT deaths in Orlando and in the Middle East. The GOP platform also holds that traditional marriage is “the foundation for a free society,” and is the proper foundation for child-rearing and instilling cultural values.
The platform calls for the building of a wall along the U.S.’s southern border, most likely in connection with Trump’s border policy. The GOP’s immigration policies have always been strict on illegal immigration, but with Trump’s nationalistic (and some would say racial) immigration approach, the party should take care not to further alienate minorities. Millennials are the most racially diverse generation, with over 43 percent being non-white. This diversity explains why millennials lean more to the left than other generations. If the GOP continues to hold to such strict immigration policies, it will limit its reach in groups with prominent immigrant subsets. The party might continue to be anti-illegal immigration, as long as their rhetoric doesn’t spill over into anti-ethnicity. It’s a fine line that the GOP has failed to avoid — and Trump has made matters worse.
The party platform vaguely addressed drug abuse, but failed to address whether marijuana should be legalized or not. Since over 70 percent of millennials support marijuana legalization, it’s surprising they didn’t address the issue.
The platform also failed to address police abuse, although it did call for rebuilding trust in law enforcement. According to the platform language, the police deserve our “gratitude and support,” and their jobs shouldn’t be made more difficult by “politicalized second-guessing.” 52 percent of millennials believe police abuse cases are going up, and 55 percent think police are too quick to use lethal force, so the GOP again failed to address millennial concerns. Not to mention, black youth’s distrust of police make this a vital issue to address.
As the millennial population grows larger, and as older generations die off, it will be vital for the GOP’s survival to address millennial concerns. The party doesn’t have to totally change its policies, but reforms will be needed.
