My roommate is crazy about politics.
She throws out names and what those names are doing and analyses of whether those names should be doing what they're doing. And while I know a lot about how our government works, I don't really know everyone who is working within it right now.
(And when I say she throws out names, I don't just mean Trump, Clinton, and maybe Ben Carson every once in a while. She says names that Fox and CNN probably don't say as often as she says them.)
I told her a few days ago, "I really should have started studying to be your roommate a long time ago."
So the last few weeks have been interesting in room 310. As a lover of politics, she has kept her TV constantly on a station discussing political news. On election night, I covered the Rand Paul watch party, then came home to watch the results come in with her.
As Republicans, we were both thrilled with how successful the Republican party was in this election. However, with all of the backlash against Republicans, we've talked a lot about the perceptions of our party. We kept throwing out things that all people need to know about young (millennial) Republicans. Not all of these things apply to either of us personally (even when I will use "us"), but she and I both believe they all apply to some young Republicans.
1. Not all of us voted for Trump.
Despite the overwhelming majority of American voters who vote for their own party's candidate, some people do choose to cross party lines or vote for a non-major-party candidate.
2. Of those who voted for Trump, not all of us are ______ (insert negative quality here).
This is quite controversial right now, but everyone should be able to agree that no people group (no matter how they are grouped together) can be stereotyped. Not all Muslims are extremists. Not all gun owners shoot people. Not all Christians are in the KKK. Not all Republicans are racist, etc.
3. We did not blindly follow our parents' politics.
I am not a Republican just because my parents are Republicans. The values that my parents taught me obviously contributed to my choice to be a Republican. But I did not emerge from the womb as a Republican; I made my own choice.
4. We are not stuck in the past.
Again, we didn't just inherit our party from our parents, so no, we are not trying to live in a world that's thirty or so years old. Nor do we want to go backwards, even if sometimes we need a little reminder of things from America's past (like the Constitution).
5. Being a Republican does not mean we are anti-progressive.
This goes hand-in-hand with not being stuck in the past. Being a Republican doesn't mean we're against civil rights; in fact, being a Republican means we emphasize personal liberties. Republicans want to work toward a better America.
6. Being a Republican does not mean we are anti-woman.
I, obviously, am a woman, as is my roommate, as are thousands of other Republicans. We don't hate women, nor do we want to take away women's rights or keep women out of power. In fact, I said to my roommate recently that I would rather America's first female president not be related to a former male president.
7. We are not all against the protests happening since Trump's election.
I am completely against violent protests, and obviously those protests are not going to change the election. But a fundamental foundation of America is the right to protest, listed alongside freedom of religion, right to bear arms, etc. These people have every right to have their voices heard, and I don't think it's a Republican ideal to try to silence those voices.
8. We don't all think Trump has everything figured out.
I would say there are few people within the Republican party who think that Trump is going to be the perfect president. Probably the most common phrase said during this election was "the lesser of two evils." A lot of people voted for Trump because he wasn't Hillary. He has a lot of work to do in the next few months and then the next four years.
9. We are not all of the same (upper) class.
A stereotype of young Republicans is that they are just "taking Daddy's money." But first of all, most of my Twitter timeline is full of college students complaining about the 23 cents in their bank account. Second of all, not every Republican is at the top economically.
10. We are still proud to be Republicans.
The Republican party is very successful in the federal government and the Kentucky government, and we are very hopeful for what these politicians can accomplish in the future. We still love the Grand Ole Party.
