Rare News Desk
This past weekend hundreds of women descended into Atlanta, Georgia for the National Federation of Republican Women’s South Eastern Regional Summer Conference. The two-day conference featured a series of speakers and panels discussing women’s leadership, modern day politics and conservative media.
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From my perspective, it was an opportunity to learn from leaders in the conservative women’s movement, such as RNC-Co Chair Sharon Day, Congresswomen Martha Roby and Renee Ellmers, and successful businesswomen like Karen Floyd.
“United We Stand” was the conference theme, and while the efforts of the conference and women leaders were encouraging, it’s still painfully obvious that attracting women is still a problem for the Republican Party. There aren’t enough women running for office, and the GOP continues to alienate women by being the leaders of “white men.”
They did, however, seem to want to address the problem. The “women’s leadership issues” panel in particular tackled this issue when moderator Karen Floyd questioned panelists about the concerns and problems within the GOP, with panelists Leslie Rutledge, candidate for AK Attorney General; Christine Ries, professor of econ GA Tech; Rosemary Barbour, owner of Alcatec; Jackie Gingrich-Cushman, columnist and social entrepreneur; Erika Harold, former Miss America and congressional candidate in Illinois.
The more conventional segment began with Leslie, an attorney general candidate, “how does and what does the electorate define as a woman issue?”
“Women are not single issue voters, we want good opportunities, we want all the same things that the opposite sex does,” said Leslie.
The discussion was steered toward the eternal conversation of how the Republican Party can engage the younger millennial generation. Barbour advised younger generations to “believe in yourself… If young people believe in themselves in their capabilities they will succeed and it all has to be believing in yourself.“
Jackie Gingrich attacked the subject of how to reclaim the vote of young women. Reflecting on her past experiences from the campaign trail, she said, “There is no war on women, what there really is the everyday issues that are issues for everybody.” More importantly, why do young women believe the GOP is responsible for the war on women? What are the key issues they’re concerned about, and how do we communicate in a way that they understand?
The youngest panelist, Erika, explained that when you speak from your own life and you speak about why you became a Republican, you move beyond the messaging. Those are the stories that we have to tell as Republicans, and it’s important that the party backs people that do that
Rutledge suggested the party support and encourage more female candidates, saying that “sitting back and waiting is no longer an option.”
The panel was encouraging, and reinforced the “United We Stand” theme. However, it is action, not words, that will make the difference within the party and engage women. I’m 23, and I was one of a handful of young women that attended the conference.
The phrase “preaching to the choir” comes to mind.
Young women don’t always feel welcomed or encouraged by the party. Why should we, when we have no one to look up to? It will take more women leaders, more encouragement, and better messaging to reach us. The Republican Party must rebrand from the “old white men” and welcome new ideas and younger women, encouraging younger women to run for office and speak up for what they believe in. Until those changes happen, women will remain a silent minority and the GOP will continue to wither.
Lauren Luxenburg is a young conservative activist and contributor to Rare. Follow her on Twitter @LaurenC_Lux.
