{"id":27437,"date":"2016-01-30T11:16:19","date_gmt":"2016-01-30T17:16:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/?p=27437"},"modified":"2016-01-30T11:16:46","modified_gmt":"2016-01-30T17:16:46","slug":"maverick-youth-the-generational-war-of-the-republican-party","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/maverick-youth-the-generational-war-of-the-republican-party\/","title":{"rendered":"Maverick youth: the generational war of the Republican Party"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Morgan Gilbard\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

IOWA CITY, Iowa —<\/strong> Presidential hopeful Marco Rubio may be trailing in the polls, but he is capturing the attention of young Iowa voters uninspired by Republican front-runners in a party often seen as too old and too white.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur generation has a more hopeful message rather than an angry kind of message,\u201d said Meaghan O\u2019Brien, president of the Hawkeyes\u2019 Marco for President chapter and a campaign volunteer.\u00a0 \u201cI feel like he has the potential to not only further the Republican Party, but also reach across the aisle and solidify a stronger relationship with Democrats.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Campaign<\/a>
Click here to check out all of Medill Reports’ coverage of the Iowa Caucus and the road to the white house.<\/figcaption><\/figure>Only two Republicans have campaign support groups at the University of Iowa. The other is Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul, an early contender whose campaign has not caught fire. Many students are inspired by Rubio’s higher poll numbers, his political skills and his personal story.<\/p>\n

Millennials, usually categorized as individuals between 18 and 33, are less willing to identify with a party than ever before, according to a Pew Research study in April 2015. Only 18 percent identified as Republican and 28 percent as Democrat. A staggering 48 percent considered themselves independent, compared with 40 percent in 2008.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe times are such that there\u2019s a greater intensity for the confusion or the frustration,\u201d Timothy Hagle, professor of political science at University of Iowa, said of young voters. \u201cYou do have more partisanship going on nowadays than you did many years ago. It may cause people entering the system to sit back and wait until they can figure it out a little bit.\u201d<\/p>\n

When it presses respondents to identify with a party, Pew still finds that young Democrats outnumber their Republican peers, 51 percent to 35 percent. But the increase in swing votes among young people could give Rubio traction in a general election, especially when many are struggling to connect with the candidates leading the Republican pack.<\/p>\n

\u201cRubio seems to have attracted young folks and it\u2019s not entirely surprising. He has this aspirational message not unlike Obama,\u201d Hagle said. \u201cRubio may be seen as someone who can work with Washington. Sometimes you want to fight for people, but sometimes you want someone who can work for people. Rubio\u2019s got to show that he\u2019s the candidate that can do that.\u201d<\/p>\n

While Trump and Texas Sen. Ted Cruz enjoy support on the University of Iowa campus, Janelle Smithson of the College Republicans said neither frontrunner has generated the enthusiasm to match their standing in state and national polls. This may signal that younger voters are searching for something different.<\/p>\n

\u201cI like to think that young Republicans are kind of — a lot–\u00a0 more open for dialogue, not that older Republicans aren\u2019t,\u201d said Smithson said.\u00a0 \u201cYou have fresh ideas, you have new thoughts. You have new things that you\u2019re willing to support or not support.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rubio’s road to the nomination looks arduous, with recent polls showing him about 20 points behind Trump, according to a Real Clear Politics analysis<\/a>. And while the Iowa winner is rarely\u00a0<\/a> the Republican nominee, the Rubio campaign faces another problem: young Republicans are far less likely to caucus than older party members. The Iowa Caucus Project found<\/a> that only 15 percent of Republicans between the ages of 17 and 29 caucused in 2012.<\/p>\n

Rubio\u2019s Hawkeye supporter Meaghan O\u2019Brien will be one of them on Monday, after she volunteers at the candidate\u2019s office in Cedar Rapids this weekend. If a candidate other than Rubio wins the nomination, O\u2019Brien still thinks she\u2019ll vote Republican, but she concedes, \u201cI\u2019ll have to see who it is when the time comes.\u201d<\/p>\n

Photo at top: Students at University of Iowa on Jan. 29, three days before the state caucus.(Morgan Gilbard\/Medill)<\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Morgan Gilbard\u00a0 IOWA CITY, Iowa — Presidential hopeful Marco Rubio may be trailing in the polls, but he is capturing the attention of young Iowa voters uninspired by Republican front-runners in a party often seen as too old and too white. \u201cOur generation has a more hopeful message rather than an angry kind of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":193,"featured_media":27445,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[452,766,30,978,585],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-27437","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-beyond-chicago","category-election2016","category-public-affairs","category-iowa-caucuses","category-winter-2016"],"yoast_head":"\nMaverick youth: the generational war of the Republican Party - Medill Reports Chicago<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/maverick-youth-the-generational-war-of-the-republican-party\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Maverick youth: the generational war of the Republican Party - Medill Reports Chicago\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"By Morgan Gilbard\u00a0 IOWA CITY, Iowa — Presidential hopeful Marco Rubio may be trailing in the polls, but he is capturing the attention of young Iowa voters uninspired by Republican front-runners in a party often seen as too old and too white. \u201cOur generation has a more hopeful message rather than an angry kind of […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/maverick-youth-the-generational-war-of-the-republican-party\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Medill Reports Chicago\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2016-01-30T17:16:19+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2016-01-30T17:16:46+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2016\/01\/maverick-1.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1100\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"825\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"morgangilbard\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"morgangilbard\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\\\/chicago\\\/maverick-youth-the-generational-war-of-the-republican-party\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\\\/chicago\\\/maverick-youth-the-generational-war-of-the-republican-party\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"morgangilbard\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\\\/chicago\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/ae7dc6a523d7150000ec7437da2e8121\"},\"headline\":\"Maverick youth: the generational war of the Republican Party\",\"datePublished\":\"2016-01-30T17:16:19+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2016-01-30T17:16:46+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\\\/chicago\\\/maverick-youth-the-generational-war-of-the-republican-party\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":652,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\\\/chicago\\\/maverick-youth-the-generational-war-of-the-republican-party\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\\\/chicago\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/3\\\/2016\\\/01\\\/maverick-1.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Beyond Chicago\",\"Election 2016\",\"Public Affairs\",\"The Iowa Caucuses\",\"Winter 2016\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\\\/chicago\\\/maverick-youth-the-generational-war-of-the-republican-party\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\\\/chicago\\\/maverick-youth-the-generational-war-of-the-republican-party\\\/\",\"name\":\"Maverick youth: the generational war of the Republican Party - Medill Reports Chicago\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\\\/chicago\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\\\/chicago\\\/maverick-youth-the-generational-war-of-the-republican-party\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\\\/chicago\\\/maverick-youth-the-generational-war-of-the-republican-party\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\\\/chicago\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/3\\\/2016\\\/01\\\/maverick-1.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2016-01-30T17:16:19+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2016-01-30T17:16:46+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\\\/chicago\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/ae7dc6a523d7150000ec7437da2e8121\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\\\/chicago\\\/maverick-youth-the-generational-war-of-the-republican-party\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\\\/chicago\\\/maverick-youth-the-generational-war-of-the-republican-party\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\\\/chicago\\\/maverick-youth-the-generational-war-of-the-republican-party\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\\\/chicago\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/3\\\/2016\\\/01\\\/maverick-1.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\\\/chicago\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/3\\\/2016\\\/01\\\/maverick-1.jpg\",\"width\":1100,\"height\":825,\"caption\":\"Students at University of Iowa on Jan. 29, three days before the state caucus.\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\\\/chicago\\\/maverick-youth-the-generational-war-of-the-republican-party\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\\\/chicago\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Maverick youth: the generational war of the Republican Party\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\\\/chicago\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\\\/chicago\\\/\",\"name\":\"Medill Reports Chicago\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\\\/chicago\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\\\/chicago\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/ae7dc6a523d7150000ec7437da2e8121\",\"name\":\"morgangilbard\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/5e8d0c6463093b1dda8e74ef01316b8d64956a78ab15a82043ae5f0a9a4c5711?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/5e8d0c6463093b1dda8e74ef01316b8d64956a78ab15a82043ae5f0a9a4c5711?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/5e8d0c6463093b1dda8e74ef01316b8d64956a78ab15a82043ae5f0a9a4c5711?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"morgangilbard\"},\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\\\/chicago\\\/author\\\/morgangilbard\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Maverick youth: the generational war of the Republican Party - Medill Reports Chicago","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/maverick-youth-the-generational-war-of-the-republican-party\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Maverick youth: the generational war of the Republican Party - Medill Reports Chicago","og_description":"By Morgan Gilbard\u00a0 IOWA CITY, Iowa — Presidential hopeful Marco Rubio may be trailing in the polls, but he is capturing the attention of young Iowa voters uninspired by Republican front-runners in a party often seen as too old and too white. \u201cOur generation has a more hopeful message rather than an angry kind of […]","og_url":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/maverick-youth-the-generational-war-of-the-republican-party\/","og_site_name":"Medill Reports Chicago","article_published_time":"2016-01-30T17:16:19+00:00","article_modified_time":"2016-01-30T17:16:46+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1100,"height":825,"url":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2016\/01\/maverick-1.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"morgangilbard","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"morgangilbard","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/maverick-youth-the-generational-war-of-the-republican-party\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/maverick-youth-the-generational-war-of-the-republican-party\/"},"author":{"name":"morgangilbard","@id":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/#\/schema\/person\/ae7dc6a523d7150000ec7437da2e8121"},"headline":"Maverick youth: the generational war of the Republican Party","datePublished":"2016-01-30T17:16:19+00:00","dateModified":"2016-01-30T17:16:46+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/maverick-youth-the-generational-war-of-the-republican-party\/"},"wordCount":652,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/maverick-youth-the-generational-war-of-the-republican-party\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2016\/01\/maverick-1.jpg","articleSection":["Beyond Chicago","Election 2016","Public Affairs","The Iowa Caucuses","Winter 2016"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/maverick-youth-the-generational-war-of-the-republican-party\/","url":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/maverick-youth-the-generational-war-of-the-republican-party\/","name":"Maverick youth: the generational war of the Republican Party - Medill Reports Chicago","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/maverick-youth-the-generational-war-of-the-republican-party\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/maverick-youth-the-generational-war-of-the-republican-party\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2016\/01\/maverick-1.jpg","datePublished":"2016-01-30T17:16:19+00:00","dateModified":"2016-01-30T17:16:46+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/#\/schema\/person\/ae7dc6a523d7150000ec7437da2e8121"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/maverick-youth-the-generational-war-of-the-republican-party\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/maverick-youth-the-generational-war-of-the-republican-party\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/maverick-youth-the-generational-war-of-the-republican-party\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2016\/01\/maverick-1.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2016\/01\/maverick-1.jpg","width":1100,"height":825,"caption":"Students at University of Iowa on Jan. 29, three days before the state caucus."},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/maverick-youth-the-generational-war-of-the-republican-party\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Maverick youth: the generational war of the Republican Party"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/#website","url":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/","name":"Medill Reports Chicago","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/#\/schema\/person\/ae7dc6a523d7150000ec7437da2e8121","name":"morgangilbard","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/5e8d0c6463093b1dda8e74ef01316b8d64956a78ab15a82043ae5f0a9a4c5711?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/5e8d0c6463093b1dda8e74ef01316b8d64956a78ab15a82043ae5f0a9a4c5711?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/5e8d0c6463093b1dda8e74ef01316b8d64956a78ab15a82043ae5f0a9a4c5711?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"morgangilbard"},"url":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/author\/morgangilbard\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27437","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/193"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=27437"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27437\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/27445"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=27437"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=27437"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=27437"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}