Realistically, how does the GOP or Dem Party hope to secure young voters?

[hopper]

Young voters will always lean Dem.  They certainly won't be as enthused or active for Hillary as they were for Obama but they will be more enthused for Hillary than say, Kerry or Gore. Young women will probably find the narrative of the first female president to be very enticing.

The youngest voters DID NOT lean Democratic in 1980, 1984, or 1988. Accepting the Howe-Strauss division between Boomers (last born in 1960) and Generation X (first born in 1961), X voters have been more conservative than any other generation of American voters since the Lost born in the latter part of the 19th century (1883-1900).  Except for personal sexuality, they were much more conservative than America at large on economics, the environment, and labor-management relations. Few people saw the extent of the Reagan landslides of 1980 and 1984 as they did and that Dukakis could collapse as he did. Not until the Republican Party started talking about abortion bans did Generation X start looking at Democrats as a viable option.

ok, whatever, the point is nowadays younger voters in this day and age will be Dem-leaning, especially with a GOP who is against abortion and comes off against gay people, minorities etc. Young people don't give a flying f(inks) about a balanced budget or the tax rate or whatnot.

Abortion is a 50-50 issue. True the Same-Sex Marriage issue hurts the Republicans with younger voters. Minorities-Its a double edged sword. Yes the GOP offends some Asians and Hispanics with anti-immigration rhetoric but also the GOP Presidential Candidates didn't present a for the governing vision for the country therefore what reason did Asians and Hispanics to vote for the GOP candidate the last 2 Presidential Elections? 

I think young people should worry about a balanced budget since we are 18-19 trillion dollars in debt. 

Tax Rates-The Boomers were always kinda anti-tax. I don't think Gen X or Gen Y has a anti-tax streak.

[hopper]

Young voters will always lean Dem.  They certainly won't be as enthused or active for Hillary as they were for Obama but they will be more enthused for Hillary than say, Kerry or Gore. Young women will probably find the narrative of the first female president to be very enticing.

The youngest voters DID NOT lean Democratic in 1980, 1984, or 1988. Accepting the Howe-Strauss division between Boomers (last born in 1960) and Generation X (first born in 1961), X voters have been more conservative than any other generation of American voters since the Lost born in the latter part of the 19th century (1883-1900).  Except for personal sexuality, they were much more conservative than America at large on economics, the environment, and labor-management relations. Few people saw the extent of the Reagan landslides of 1980 and 1984 as they did and that Dukakis could collapse as he did. Not until the Republican Party started talking about abortion bans did Generation X start looking at Democrats as a viable option.

The 1990s recession was what really shifted Generation X toward Democrats.

I actually think it was the drastic pop culture shift in 1992 as to why Clinton won but also people didn't want full blown Reaganomics anymore. I see clips of the 1992 Presidential Debates and Bush H.W. looked out of place like he was in another time period compared to the "Hip" Clinton. Music changed with Grunge and Gangsta Rap coming onto the music scene that year. 1992 was the 80's pop culture's last gap.

[hopper]

I think young people should worry about a balanced budget since we are 18-19 trillion dollars in debt. 

Tax Rates-The Boomers were always kinda anti-tax. I don't think Gen X or Gen Y has a anti-tax streak.

First off, the debt is a long term problem and there are a lot of much more pressing issues we need to fix before we can tackle it properly. Second, my generation and younger (I'm a millennial or what ever buzz word is in flavor) have seen that problem made worse by tax cut after tax cut and an unwillingness to undo those tax cuts despite them obviously not working. We're not stupid. We want results as opposed to promises that some how some ideology will magically fix this not really pressing problem.

So yes, you're right about younger folks not having as much of an anti-tax streak. But wrong about us thinking the debt will be the end all of our view on things.

More Pressing Issues-Well yeah like Immigration Reform and Tax Reform.

I agree with you on the tax cuts but the Dems wanted to keep "The Bush Tax Cuts" in place for people making 450,000 dollars and under a year.

I didn't say end all view on things but it should be a priority in the next 3-5 years to get the deficit somewhat under control and get a handle on it.

[hopper]

I think young people should worry about a balanced budget since we are 18-19 trillion dollars in debt.  

It doesn't matter what you think, the fact is they don't - and won't - care about that kind of stuff. In fact, I have a theory that nobody actually cares about the debt or a balanced budget, but younger voters don't really pretend to. The debt is going to go up no matter who takes office.

There is no issue that the GOP holds as of now that is advantageous to them with regards to younger voters. This is the age of Tinder and sexting and being against birth control isn't going to fly.

The good news for your side is that younger voters are becoming increasingly disengaged with the political process because of all these gadgets and gizomos and netflixes and vines and myspaces running around. So youth participation going even further downhill is good news for the GOP.

I don't see youth participation going down unless the Dem Candidate is really a dud(think Dukakis, or Mondale.) With that said I don't know how Hillary will be as a candidate. I think she will be perform well or she will be bad. The youth vote(ages 18-29) in 2012 is the reason Obama is still president.

Being against Birth Control-The Dems tried "War on Women" in 2014 and it didn't work at all.

[hopper]

It seems that Democrats have already secured the 25-29 year old subgroup of the youth vote. If you look at many of the exit polls even from the disastrous 2014 elections, the Democratic candidate almost always won the 25-29 year olds while losing the 18-24 year olds. As someone in the 25-29 year old range (speaking from personal experience), it'll be very hard for this age to go Republican. We grew up during the Clinton years when the economy was strong and then came of age during the Bush era, which made many of us anti-Republican. Obama's [alleged] "coolness" appeal in 2008 helped solidify the current 25-29 year olds in the Democratic camp. 2012 certainly didn't help with Romney going from a Massachusetts moderate to a "severely conservative" candidate on every issue. I think my age group will support Hillary in 2016 by strong margins, inspired by the historical aspect of her campaign but also out of nostalgia for the good ole days. True, social issues hurt the GOP with younger voters, but there's also a sentiment that the current Republican Party is anti-science and the climate change denial doesn't do them any favors when many younger voters do believe that climate change is real. Abortion is always going to be a 50-50 issue. They should fold on marriage equality and stop all the draconian "religious freedom" bills that are passing the GOP-controlled state legislatures, because that's only going to make them come across as more anti-gay and homophobic than they already are with young voters, who overwhelmingly support LGBT rights.

True Romney's rightward shift hurt him badly with "Moderates".

Climate Change-The climate always changes. People thought there was going to be an ice-age during the Carter Years. It never happened.

I just think the "religious freedom bills" are mostly because the GOP has a White Evangelical Base in the Deep South so that's a way to keep the base happy by passing bills like that.

[hopper]

Young voters are more libertarian-leaning in 2015 than liberal-leaning. I don't think they will vote Dem unless the GOP elects someone like Bush or Rubio. I could see the young vote being split between Walker and Hilary. At the same time, I honestly do not see optimism.

Incorrect. Young people are just as liberal on economic issues as they are on social issues.

According to the Pew Research, "nearly seven in 10 millennials (68 percent) support same-sex marriage, a marked increase even from a decade ago, when 44 percent backed it. Fifty-five percent of millennials say illegal immigrants should be allowed to stay in the United States and have a chance to apply for citizenship. Fifty-six percent of millennials say abortion should be legal in all or most cases. On each of those issues, millennials’ views come far closer to the Democratic Party’s position than where the Republican Party — and in particular, its base — finds itself.

And, on the right role for government to play in people’s lives, a majority of millennials (53 percent) favor a bigger government that provides more services, while 38 percent find a smaller government with fewer services more appealing. That’s almost exactly the opposite of the other generations Pew tested; all three of them — silent, baby boomer and X — preferred a smaller government.

About six-in-ten Millennials (61%) oppose benefit cuts as a way to address the long-term funding problems of Social Security, a view held by about seven-in-ten older adults.

http://www.pewsocialtrends.org/2014/03/07/millennials-in-adulthood/

56% of Millenials support abortion in all or most cases-I myself really don't believe we should have abortion on demand.

Size of government-How can we have a bigger government when the government can't meet what it has on the books now? I really don't think about the size of government myself but I ask myself do we really need this particular program? Can this part of the government be consolidated with that part of the government? That type of thing.

Social Security-The program has to be reformed doing something wether you up the retirement age or raise SS Taxes coming out of people's paychecks. Make people who can afford benefit cuts just take the benefit cuts.

[hopper]

I think young people should worry about a balanced budget since we are 18-19 trillion dollars in debt. 

It doesn't matter what you think, the fact is they don't - and won't - care about that kind of stuff. In fact, I have a theory that nobody actually cares about the debt or a balanced budget, but younger voters don't really pretend to. The debt is going to go up no matter who takes office.

There is no issue that the GOP holds as of now that is advantageous to them with regards to younger voters. This is the age of Tinder and sexting and being against birth control isn't going to fly.

The good news for your side is that younger voters are becoming increasingly disengaged with the political process because of all these gadgets and gizomos and netflixes and vines and myspaces running around. So youth participation going even further downhill is good news for the GOP.

Literally every republican in existence cares about the deficit, along with a number of conservative democrats and some independents. (Fact).

They say they do but they don't actually care about the deficit because nobody actually cares about the deficit.

I actually agree with this. The deficit is never used as a big rallying cry because people aren't motivated by it. The GOP would never attack because they want more tax cuts, and more military spending, and the dems would never tackle it because they want enhanced social care etc. I honestly agree that the deficit just isn't an 'excitement' issue that is going to drive people my age to the polls.

This is the sad part. I never understood why the GOP wants more defense spending when there is basically no use for it. Why do the Dems never tackle social programs that are going to broke someday? Because of the crazies on the left? I honesty don't think I will see a dime of SS myself because people in both parties put their political careers first unless SS reform is done.