In the wake of Mitt Romney's 2012 defeat, there has been a great deal of speculation and argument as to whether and how the Republican Party can rebound. Some of the analysis has touched on, in one way or another, a dilemma facing the GOP, a conundrum involving age and culture.
Social conservatives make up a core constituency in the Republican electoral coalition. This culture war wing of the party is overwhelmingly white and older. In the 2008 and 2012 presidential elections, the GOP tickets easily won the 40 and above age demographic.
But among voters in the 18 to 29 demographic, Obama won handily, and this demographic--an electoral segment noted for its cultural inclusiveness and tolerance--was definitively important in carrying the President to re-election
It appears that the culture war positions and rhetoric of the modern GOP does not appeal very much to younger voters. Some Republicans insiders, along with some GOP-leaning commentators, have argued that the GOP must evolve or die.
The social conservative activist base seems to have little interest in evolution. Molly Ball of The Atlantic takes a look at the GOP base. Her article is linked below:
The Atlantic: Molly Ball Looks at the Social Conservatives and Their Continued Power in the GOP
"The problem is not that evangelicals' political participation or devotion to the GOP is declining. It's that the gap between what they believe and what everyone else does is growing wider." -----Molly Ball, The Atlantic
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