If the DNC Delivers a Speech in an Empty Room, Does it Make a Sound?
Will this presidential election be the most important in American history?
If the Democrats were hoping to re-create the momentum of the historic youth grassroots movement for the Obama presidential campaign, they can forget about it.
Emphasizing the importance of Millennial voters in upcoming elections, progressive activists spoke to a nearly empty auditorium at the College Democrats of America annual conference on Friday.
Despite offering a full day of activities, speakers like Julian Castro, and campaigning advice from top political operatives, the College Democrats of America were barely able to fill the first couple rows with young attendees.
… [Donna Brazile, Vice Chairwoman of the Democratic National Committee] encouraged the members of the sparse audience to seek public office while pointing to an empty chair on stage.
“I want you to start thinking about filling this seat,” said Brazile, who said she has been active in politics since childhood and looked forward to the contributions of the next generation. “I didn’t come here with any talking points, I don’t have a speech, I don’t have a candidate yet, but I do have an empty chair,” said Brazile.
Turns out, it was one of many empty chairs in the room.
While it’s good news to see that young Americans are looking for an alternative to the broken promises made by Democrats every election cycle, the responsibility is on Republicans to present a clear and attractive policy agenda that young Americans can identify with. Republicans need to move beyond their “Party of NO” reputation and start articulating what they are for, rather than just what they are against.