A group of young conservatives have formed a new group in an effort to drag the Republican party into the 2oth century, a noble if frustrating task. Voices of Conservative Youth thinks that its pro-marriage equality stance will help convince young voters that the GOP isn’t a hopeless case.
“The thesis of our organization is that young people are not liberal,” Josh Nass, a Brandeis student and founder of the group, told Buzzfeed. “They vote for Democrats but that is not a function of their genuine political philosophy. And that’s not their fault, it’s ours. The party and the leadership has given them no attention, has done nothing in terms of outreach, and we’re going to change that.”
One way to change that is to break with the Republican ideology on marriage equality. Nass said he is aware of the risks involved of bucking the party line.
“I’ve been told by countless people not to do this — not because it wouldn’t improve the party’s image among young people, but because they said, ‘You’re gonna be met with a lot of resistance. You’re gonna create a lot of enemies for yourself,” Nass said. “And that’s true, but it will be all the right folks; the Ralph Reeds of the world, the Tony Perkins of the world, the people who have held the party back and have basically hijacked it.”
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In the long run, demographics are on Nass’s side, since marriage equality is overwhelmingly supported by voters under 30. Just how much headway Nass can expect to make in the short term is another question. Success in the GOP these days for marriage equality supporters means surviving an attempted purge.
Nor has the group turned to the sharpest knives in the drawer for help. Among its board members is Jimmy LaSalvia, the former executive director of GOProud, the gay conservative group. GOProud just got around to endorsing marriage equality at the beginning of this year, or probably later than Nass himself did. So much for bold leadership.
As for Nass himself, he has been a good soldier in the Republican trenches, hosting a talk show and writing for a range of outlets on why young conservatives must support the GOP. He’s a protege of Sheldon Adelson, the casino magnate who spent $100 million on elections last year and singlehandedly kept Newt Gingrich’s presidential campaign afloat. However, Adelson classifies himself as “a social liberal” and seems comfortable supporting gay rights. Of course, you’d never know that from the candidates he supports. Ditto for Nass. Last November, Nass wrote an article calling on voters to elect “a president with the skills and experience to truly turn this country around—and that man is Mitt Romney.”
New wine. Old skins.
jeff4justice
Both sides of the 2-party system charade = lie=based war, poverty, slavery, pollution, and eradication of human rights.
Vartan X.
Another clueless group that buys into moronic two-party system.
brent
It’s great that GOP conservatives are tackling homophobia in the republican party and the religious community. Now if we can only get liberals to tackle homophobia in the black, Latino and Muslim communities.
Kangol
@brent:
Yes, because most Mormons, most Roman Catholics in the US including the Catholic hierarchy, most protestant Evangelicals spreading hat•e in Africa, Latin America and elsewhere, the entire Liberty University-Family Research Council-Westboro Baptist Church are “black, Latino and Muslim.”
Just. Stop. The. Hat•e. It’s as bad as ho•mophobia.
jwrappaport
This guy has a gift – he sees right through my liberal facade and into my conservative soul. Truly uncanny.
Incidentally, if this guy becomes Chairman of the RNC, can we please refer to him as Boss Nass?
Cam
@brent:
Brent, this is how we know that you are a partisan hack.
The democrats, which encompass all of those groups you just mentioned have pushed equality, so please explain this false equivalency you are trying to put up between the GOP and the “Liberals”.
States with enormous latino and black populations have marriage equality, where states like Utah, Idaho, etc…. with majority White populations don’t.
If you cannot EVER make a post about an article that points out an issue in the GOP without attempting to turn it around, then your comments are not worth anything. Deal with the issue in front of you.
That said, it’s a shame that it took a straight group to do this because Log Cabin was too buy carrying water for the bigots in the party.
Niall
Lol, I file this bs into the same category I file the people who want to make mormons gay friendly or gay accepting- keep wasting your time and fooling yourselves.
The GOP is deeply entrenched in their homophobia and bigotry, which is why we still see their candidates using such bigotry as a plus to gain support rather than something that should never be admitted publicly.
Whup-Ass Master
Unfortch, the tinfoil hat-wearing crowd (*cough* tea pariers *cough*) are gaining ground and are poised to oust more centrist GOP congressfolks. The elephant is sauntering to the right. And there doesn’t seem to be any room for dissent. I like this guy’s style but he’s tilting at windmills.
Tookietookie123
The reality is, both parties are bad(in some ways differing each other), choosing the lesser of two evils during an election is just as bad on our part as citizens who can legally vote. At this point in time, we just vote in someone who can make big promises and yet is stupid enough to captain this sinking ship. The only reason we as the LGBT community support democrats and not republicans, is because our fight for equality has been backed by many democrats, while many republicans would rather have us exterminated. Looking at the bigger picture though, doesn’t seem this country will remain number one in the long run. The Republican Party needs to reassess their stance on gay marriage or they too will fall out of favor amongst Americans who are growing increasingly pro-gay issues.
erikwm
@Tookietookie123: We’re not a sinking ship, jackass.
Tookietookie123
@erikwm: If you actually knew the way our economy was structured you would know the reality of the situation. It has been played down lately but we’re still drowning in debt and it’s only getting worse. Most Americans have this stupid idea in their heads that one president can change it all and make us number one again, but the truth is, no, no they can’t. The answer to our problem isn’t political it’s economic. I could enlighten you more, but that’s for another article, and as for your little remark on me being a “jackass”, really? I’m 18, yet I seem to be the one mature enough not go to such a level.
1EqualityUSA
Bush brought this Country to the brink with his government spending and two wars. He was played by Cheney & Co. I don’t know how the Republicans can say that they are fiscally prudent without cracking a smile.
tusgold
gay or straight 4 more dismal years of voodoo economics no thanks
tusgold
well do not ever buy a house you will be in deficit financing. NEVER has austerity brought an economy out of recession and it put England in a TRIPLE recession. Trickle down has been proven and proven again that it is a failure of economics. Infrastructure needs done sooner or later and the longer you wait the higher the deficit will be. Second the dollar is considered the world currency. All barrels of oil bought from OPEC must be in US Dollars that will never come home. You my friend dont understand Macroeconomics