Young and Uninspired

If Florida and Nevada are any indication for the rest of 2012, the GOP hasn’t fixed one of their haunting problems from 2008.

Despite all of the excitement from the Romney camp over back to back victories in Florida and Nevada, the outlook remains the same.

“This seems like another meeting of the old boys club,” paraphrased Lauren Schuetz, study body president at Florida Gulf Coast University. “The debate here in Jacksonville didn’t seem to speak to me.”

“What about education and the youth of America?” asked several other local student body presidents, including Michael Long of New College of Florida and Breyon Love of Florida A&M University.

As my conversation continued with the group of bright young leaders from 6 of Florida’s institutions of higher learning, it became clear: the GOP is missing the boat – again.

Ignore the numbers that will come from both Florida and Nevada which suggest that former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney claimed a significant portion of the youth vote from either contest in the East and West. As long as young leaders believe that the GOP field of candidates is unable to speak directly to the needs and vision that young voters hold in 2012, another specific segment of the grassroots momentum may likely swing over towards President Obama’s re-election camp. This should worry Republican supporters that, despite the daunting disappointments regarding education, employment, and housing – all issues impacting young voter from the recent college ranks – many young people may still see the president as the more viable option moving forward.

The simple problem may lay with the inspiration gap.

For all of the money that Mr. Romney has accumulated for himself and a select group of business partners at Bain Capital, his record as a leader of people generally lacks the moxie and accomplishments that inspire folks to rally behind. Senator Obama’s great trait as a presidential candidate in 2008 – particularly in the primary season against fellow Democrat (and perceived front-runner) Hillary Clinton – was his ability to inspire young voters and other new voters to believe in his vision and contribute to the campaign accordingly with financial, technological, and personal resources. Generally speaking, the GOP front-runner and others in the race (aside from the pocket of Libertarians that have rallied behind Congressman Ron Paul for over a decade now) have failed to inspire potential voters other than those within their immediate camps.

Much like the embarrassing issue of diversity on the convention floor in Minnesota in 2008, the lack of support from young people in 2012 could prove to show the Republican base as socially inflexible.

It’s an alarming sign to young voters that the party, despite its Tea Party victories from 2009 – 2011, is not ready to lead the future from 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.

“We are the generation that will have to innovate and close the economic and business gaps that we have been left with,” Matthew Diaz (University of South Florida) and Ayden Maher (Florida Atlantic) chimed in offline after our conservation ended. “It has to make sense to us. We have a sound perspective and the desire to make a difference in our nation right now. But without access to power and without the ear of leadership, we’re an untapped resource.”

And, perhaps, an uninspired voter – at least to vote GOP in 2012.

LENNY MCALLISTER is a senior contributor to Politic 365 that can be found every Saturday with Democratic pundit Maria Cardona on “CNN Saturday Morning” at 10:30 AM Eastern (9:30 Central / 7:30 Pacific.) He is regularly featured on CNN’s “Early Start” weekdays between 5:00 AM – 7:00 AM Eastern as well. Catch the radio show “Get Right with Lenny McAllister” live on LMGILIVE.com at 11 AM Eastern weekdays and re-broadcast on Politic 365.

Lenny McAllister is the host of the radio show “Get Right with Lenny McAllister” found on LMGILIVE.com and often re-broadcast on Politic365. He appears weekly on “CNN Saturday Morning” with host Randi Kaye and former DNC Communications Director Maria Cardona at 10:30 AM Eastern Time. He also regularly appears weekdays on CNN's "Early Start" at 5am - 7am and "CNN Newsroom" at 12:30pm Eastern. He also appears as a political commentator on multiple outlets including Sirius-XM Radio, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, ABC Radio in Australia, and Chicago Public Radio. Lenny has written previously for a number of publications including Rushmore Drive, Global Grind, and The Chicago Defender. In 2009, McAllister was a panelist at the 10th Annual State of the Black Union and the CNN panel discussion Young & Black In America: Empowering the Next Generation of African American Leaders. In 2010, Lenny was featured in the Studio 360 series “American Icons” in the episode, The Autobiography of Malcolm X. He was also featured in the November 2010 Essence Magazine roundtable discussion “Race (Still) Matters” that featured the Rev. Al Sharpton, NAACP President Ben Jealous, and CNN’s Soledad O’Brien.

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