Michael Gerson was a speechwriter for George W. Bush. As he tells us in a Washington Post column titled Trump may cost the GOP a generation of voters, although he grew up as one religiously conservative, he was at first drawn to the liberal side of the political debate, even advocating for Jimmy Carter in his Christian high school. But he cast his first vote for Ronald Reagan in 1984, both drawn by economic issues, and somewhat repelled by Mondale and Ferraro attacking conservative religious people. But of equal importance was the positive attitude of Ronald Reagan, that he
seemed to embody something hopeful and decent about the country.
That election saw Republicans carry the young voters aged 18-24, by 61 percent to 39 percent. For many of them, that began their life-long commitment to Republicans. As he tells us in his brief opening paragraph
People always remember their first presidential vote — their first participation in the largest decision of American democracy.
In this column Gerson is concerned less with the results of this election and more with the impact it will have upon a generation of young people going forward.
Let me step back a bit and offer observations from 20 years of teaching, in a variety of schools in a variety of settings, ranging from almost completely black (and poor) student bodies to incredibly diverse ethnically, racially, religiously and economically student bodies.
Young people often now have friends across racial divides.
They may well, in many settings, have friends who are either themselves undocumented or have at least one parent who is.
They are used to seeing girls in hijabs, boys with skull caps.
Students are far more likely to be openly gay or bi — if there is still a reluctance it is for those who are trans in their willingness to expose themselves.
It is in this context that the words and actions of Donald Trump echo loudly, and not to the benefit of Trump and the Republicans.
Let me return to Gerson, and offer the end of his column.
Gerson refers to the USA Today/Rock the Vote poll where Clinton beats Trump 56-20, almost 3-1. Looked at differently, Trump is drawing only 1 in 5 young people, and Gerson reminds us that today’s young voters become the future older voters.
He argues this is neither because young voters necessarily are drawn to Clinton, reminding us of how Sanders trounced her among this demographic, or necessarily about social issues, given the nod Trump made in his speech towards the rights of LGBQT people, which got applause (although I view this as a reach by Gerson — young people are not dummies, and the attacks on people of color and of Muslims will likely be interpreted as likely to extend to sexual minorities as well, especially given the Republican hostility on matters of gay rights and related).
Let me offer the end of Gerson’s column. There are three paragraphs, two longer, one short.
First:
While Clinton has an ethics problem, Trump has a humanity problem. His combativeness and lack of political polish could be advantages among younger voters. But these are tied to a discrediting lack of empathy. It is one thing to go after “low-energy” Jeb Bush or “Lyin’ ” Ted Cruz; it is another to mock a disabled reporter, stereotype Mexicans as rapists, condemn a judge because of his ethnicity, attack the faith of a grieving Gold Star mother, or call for systematic discrimination against Muslims. These are not violations of political correctness. They are violations of human decency, revealing serious moral impairment.
Young people have a strong sense of right and wrong, especially as they are trying to work out their own sense of values. They definitely reactly strongly negatively towards attacks on those they care about, especially their friends or family.
The penultimate paragraph is this:
Here is something for Reince Priebus, Paul Ryan, Mitch McConnell and other Republican leaders to consider. At high schools and colleges with Latino or Muslim students, spray-painting “Trump 2016” on a wall or poster is properly taken as a racially charged incident. When white students chant “Trump! Trump!” at a basketball game against a team including minorities, it is properly taken as a racial taunt. Young people understand the logo of the Republican nominee — the very name of the Republican presidential candidate — as conveying a message of exclusion.
Some of those incidents were occurring before the end of the school year. My high school students would on their own raise this incidents, explaining their concerns, and even more, their outrage. The vast majority or inclusive, not exclusive, because they have grown up with a widely diverse group of classmates, and do not fear them. In some cases, they love them.
Attitudes are being formed, just as Gerson formed his own attitudes in the election of 1984.
Now we can read his final, short, very personal, paragraph:
These are the first serious political impressions of my younger son, voting in his first presidential election this year. It is the way to lose a generation.
If this election continues on this party, the Republican Party will be well able to have another autopsy — on the dead body of the future national Republican Party.