Sorry, Republicans: Supporting Uber won't win you many millennial votes
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
You are now subscribed
Your newsletter sign-up was successful
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.
Article continues belowThe Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
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.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Ryu Spaeth is deputy editor at TheWeek.com. Follow him on Twitter.