Much has been said about this study on Axios that shows that Democrats are not willing to date Republicans but very little has been said about how Republicans made themselves undateable.
I want you to imagine an early-20 something young woman in prime dating age. Her formative years start after 2010. Ask yourself, what would she have noticed about the Republican party in her formative years?
She spent her entire life in school living with the very real threat of school shootings. They had active shooter drills. What opinion do you imagine they would have of the party that told them they should accept the risks of being killed at school because they don’t want gun owners to be inconvenienced when they buy a gun? What do you think she might think of 2nd amendment absolutists and their odd performative patriotism?
A 20 something young women has spent her entire life reading about one party being laser focused on attacking her right to choose. Her right to access contraception. That same party wanted to made sure health care didn’t have to cover contraception. What do you think she might think of men her age that support that party?
One party spent most of her teen years engaging in performative repeals of ObamaCare. If she is under 26 it is likely she is being covered by her parents health care because of ObamaCare, something one party spent years trying to repeal. That party has made it clear that they oppose making her schooling more affordable while also opposing any attempt at raising the minimum wage. For as long as she can remember, the GOP has been a party of obstruction of anything that would address problems in her life.
One party has made it clear that if you sexually assault or sexually harass women, the party will make you resign. The other party made a joke out of grab her by her pussy. One party made jokes about “Trump that Bitch”. What do you think her opinion of that party might be?
One party has an imperfect record of concern and the other has a near perfect record of treating women, the young and people of color pretty terribly.
The response I expect from Republicans is that she has been brainwashed. It was the schools. It’s the liberal media. I double it. Her opinions on Republicans are first hand experience.
As for media, she likely consumed most of her news content online. She was unlikely to be watching Fox or MSNBC. She likely has older relatives that are conservative Republicans so none of this happened in a vacuum. She had relatives on Medicare that opposed the ACA. She heard them talk about Obama the way Republicans talk about Obama when there are no cameras around.
It’s fine to be concerned about this but don’t once act as if there is no reason for a 20 something collage kid to have negative opinions of Republicans.
