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New club's not your dad's Young Republicans
By ANNA PALMER | 3/8/13 4:38 AM EST
A group of young Republicans isn’t waiting for party leaders to sort out the future of the party, they’re putting their money, time and organizing prowess to work.
Concord 51, the brainchild of a group of young fiscal conservatives in New York City in their late 20s, among others, is looking to mobilize Republicans under 35 into a national movement.
The group, launched as a political action committee in the 2012 cycle, is moving aggressively to broaden beyond the Big Apple — already to Washington, D.C., Atlanta, Charlotte, Oklahoma City and Dallas — raising more money to contribute to candidates who are aligned with their beliefs and establishing a 501(c)4 that will allow them to do advertising and issue advocacy.
They’ve also caught the attention of big-name Republicans like former presidential candidate John Huntsman and Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker.
They’re building enthusiasm around a set of conservative values that are more appealing to younger voters, they say — more inclusive of gays, minorities and women — the bigger tent that the GOP needs to build if it wants to win national elections.
“We’ve created communications and a brand that is representative of not necessarily party politics, but what we believe to be the politics of our generation,” said Matthew Swift, a co-founder of Concord 51, who works at a management company.
While much of the GOP’s public soul searching has been over the use of technology, how outside groups spent money and the need to draw Hispanics into the fold, Republicans also have fallen behind in drawing younger voters. President Barack Obama won the youth vote 67 percent to 30 percent nationally with young voters providing a significant difference in Pennsylvania, Ohio and Florida, according to an analysis by the Center for Research and Information of Civic Learning and Engagement at Tufts University.
Concord 51’s founders hope to change that.
“Republicans got whipped pretty good in the election, and they are still pretty whipped,” board member Billy Fennebresque, a former hedge fund analyst who founded A2 Capital, said of Republicans status after the 2012 election. “We’re offering an outlet for people to have sort of a bigger-tent focus on Republicans, and ideally, if we can be policy-focused on specific things, support candidates for very specific reasons and policy reasons, we can cast a wider net.”
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Concord 51’s draw was on display at a recent fundraiser at the New York Racquet Club headlined by former Gov. Jon Huntsman. The event, which drew more than 70 people at $175 a ticket, included a cocktail hour and dinner at which Huntsman took questions on China, gay marriage and other issues.
This is not your father’s College Republicans, always in lockstep with the party platform. These Republicans make no bones about being frustrated with GOP candidates’ propensity of focusing on social issues, which they believe is a major liability to many voters in their generation who don’t see gay marriage, abortion and other issues as central to their core beliefs.
The group has targeted their policy positions on fiscal responsibility, energy advancement and a strong defense. And welcomes conservatives who may have varying beliefs on social issues.
It’s a bold move that’s been largely welcomed by party elders who have struggled to engage the youth vote.
“I think the Republican Party looks at us as an incredible asset for the broader, longer-term political movement,” Swift said.
Dan Conston of the Congressional Leadership Fund said the party welcomes groups like Concord 51.
“Republicans are well-suited to compete and win on the congressional battlefield but if we’re going to win a national election again we need to shift our tone, tactics and targeting to reach younger and more diverse voters. We’ve become the decidedly uncool party for younger voters and we saw its impact,” Conston said. “It’s a good thing to have other like minded groups committed to broadening our base and focusing on the key few issues that affect Americans most.”
To that end, they’ve drawn high-profile lawmakers to roundtables and dinners, including Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker and Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad. They’ve also done events for Republicans like former New York Rep. Nan Hayworth, who lost her reelection bid.
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Read more: http://www.politico.com/story/2013/03/lorem-ipsum-88606_Page2.html#ixzz2MzdpQr1U
Its nice to see that maybe the Republican Party has a chance of being brought into the 21st century-so it can still be a viable force--- and that the younger generation is going to try and take the Party back to the libertarian thinking it had in years past....