New report says younger voters see Republican party as "closed-minded, racist, rigid, old-fashioned." Sounds about right to me.

Courtesy of Politico: 

The 95-page study, which looked at the party’s views on social and economic issues, as well as its messaging and outreach, echoes a March report on the election debacle issued by Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus, which presented a devastating assessment of the party’s current state of affairs. 

But in some ways the new report from inside the GOP tent is even more scathing and ominous — since it comes from the party’s next generation. 

Titled the “Grand Old Party for a Brand New Generation,” the report is sharply critical of the GOP on several fronts. The study slams some Republicans’ almost singular focus on downsizing Big Government and cutting taxes; candidates’ use of offensive, polarizing rhetoric; and the party’s belly-flop efforts at messaging and outreach, even as the report presents a way forward and, at times, strikes an optimistic tone. 

In the report, the young Republican activists acknowledge their party has suffered significant damage in recent years. A sampling of the critique on: 

Gay marriage: “On the ‘open-minded’ issue … [w]e will face serious difficulty so long as the issue of gay marriage remains on the table.” 

Hispanics: “Latino voters … tend to think the GOP couldn’t care less about them.” 

Perception of the party’s economic stance: “We’ve become the party that will pat you on your back when you make it, but won’t offer you a hand to help you get there.” 

Big reason for the image problem: The “outrageous statements made by errant Republican voices.” 

Words that up-for-grabs voters associate with the GOP: “The responses were brutal: closed-minded, racist, rigid, old-fashioned.” 

“[The] Republican Party has won the youth vote before and can absolutely win it again,” the report says, pointing to presidents Ronald Reagan and George W. Bush who were competitive with that demographic. “But this will not occur without significant work to repair the damage done to the Republican brand among this age group over the last decade.”

This is a report put together by the College Republican National Committee so it attempts to maintain a sunny, hopeful disposition in the face of rather overwhelmingly bad news about the future of the GOP.

I think the idea that the youth flocked to Ronald Reagan has been much exaggerated. I lived through those times and Reagan was really a President for our parents more than for those of us in a younger demographic. We may have voted for him against Fritz Mondale for his second term but that had more to do with Mondale than Reagan. And after Reagan's lack of response on the AIDS epidemic during that second term his stature among the younger set was essentially that of Mitch McConnell today.

I do not see a way forward for the Republicans among the younger voters right now, unless they were to TOTALLY reinvent themselves and openly accept Hispanics, women, and gays into the party while also advocating getting out of the war business and going after big banks.

Not exactly a scenario that I see happening anytime soon.

No the Republicans will continue to be competitive in local races located in very conservative areas, but nationally they are finished unless the Democrats screw up in a big way.