Sorry, Republicans: Supporting Uber won't win you many millennial votes

Sorry, Republicans: Supporting Uber won&#039;t win you many millennial votes

(Image credit: David Ramos/Getty Images)

last updated 8 January 2015

The Republican Party's strategy for wooing millennials — the all-important generation that is in danger of being locked up by the Democrats — apparently boils down to a taxi-sharing service.

"Republicans love Uber. Young urban voters love Uber. And Republicans hope that means young voters can learn to love the GOP," Politico reports.

The Republican National Committee this week launched a petition to support Uber, which has been the target of government regulators. "Republicans see it as the perfect opportunity to help sell the GOP's free-market, lower-regulation message to a younger generation of voters they've struggled to win over in the past few elections and who often feel alienated by the GOP's social conservatism," according to Politico.

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Let's set aside the rather demeaning implication that younger voters' views about social issues like gay marriage are so shallow that they would switch to the GOP for a better taxi service. The fact is that polling shows that millennials, more than any other generation, are overwhelmingly supportive of strong government intervention in an array of issues far more important than getting a ride home from the bar, including higher education, the economy, the environment, and health care.

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Ryu Spaeth is deputy editor at TheWeek.com. Follow him on Twitter.

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