IU students, other young Republicans believe GOP can prevail in November

ST. PAUL, Minn. – They absolutely love Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin. Their goal is to convince everyone else their party will prevail. But these Republicans attending the convention this week aren’t older than 50, and many have their own definition of change.

Meet the young Republicans.

Although a majority of supporters at the convention might fit the old Republican stereotype, a strong base of youth support from different organizations suggests otherwise. Using their energy to combat what sometimes seems like an Obama-obsessed world, they are convinced now more than ever that the GOP isn’t the underdog in this election.

Margot and Lydia Bopp are Hoosiers and have grown up around politics. Their father, Jim Bopp, is an Indiana delegate, and both sisters are participating in the Page Program at the convention this week. The competitive program selects two young people from each state to help out at the convention, all between the ages of 16 and 25, they said. Pages set up for each convention night, help with fundraising events and hear from speakers such as Newt Gingrich, former Speaker of the House, and Rick Davis, Republican nominee John McCain’s campaign manager. (Davis’ 16-year-old son is in the program, too, the sisters said).

Both Margot, an IU senior, and Lydia, who graduated from IU this May, said though they wouldn’t call young Republicans a rarity, they believe college campuses like IU can seem pretty liberal.

“I think we’re more the minority, or at least that’s the way it feels,” Margot said. “I feel like at the same time a lot of my friends or peers, they really haven’t made up their minds yet.”

Margot, who plans to become an elementary school teacher after graduating, still wants to stay involved working for a not-for-profit organization like Alliance for School Choice, she said.

“I don’t think I could ever get away from it now,” she said. “We’ve done it for so long. And we love it. It’s a passion.”

The girls’ father, Jim, is on the Republican National Committee, and though the girls have been surrounded by politics their whole lives, Lydia said, “We’re different because we’re truly interested on our own.”

Margot added: “Our parents have definitely helped to pave our way to be Republicans, but they’ve always let us think for ourselves.”

Like the Bopp sisters, IU sophomore Kyle Waggoner is a born and raised Republican, attending the RNC this week as an intern for the Indiana Republican Party. His mother is a lobbyist who worked for David McIntosh during his campaign for Indiana Governor in 2000. Since Palin joined the GOP ticket a week ago, Waggoner agrees with the Bopp sisters that Palin is giving conservatives a reason to be excited about McCain.

“I think that young kids, especially ones who might be voting for the first time, want to find somebody they really can connect with. I think John McCain has lost this,” Waggoner said. “Picking Sarah Palin has really, really rejuvenated his campaign.”

Waggoner said he thinks a lot of young people get their political views from their parents, then learn to develop their own views.

“I think that a lot of times they don’t really know what they are until they get out of school and see how they live their life,” Waggoner said.

Yet another group of young GOP-lovers at the convention is the Young Republican National Federation, a group whose members are mostly in their 20s and 30s. Monica Durrwachter, secretary of the group, said about 200 group members have attended the convention throughout the week. Durrwachter, who is 24, describes the group as “the grassroots folks that go door-to-door,” and added that they also train members to “eventually run for office themselves.”

Her role in the Young Republican National Federation is pure volunteer work, but she says it’s “definitely worth it.” Unlike the Bopp sisters and Waggoner, Durrwachter didn’t grow up in a political family, but still got involved as early as middle school with a Youth in Government program, then later moving on to leadership roles in St. Louis Area Young Republicans before joining the national organization YRNF.

The stereotype that young people are more liberal is “understandable,” Durrwachter said, adding she feels young conservatives don’t always realize there are organizations out there for them, too.

“(On) college campuses across America there seems to be a liberal bias, and I think sometimes people just kind of need to find their outlet where they can get involved,” she said.

Like other Republicans at the convention, Durrwachter said she is convinced the Republican Party will be strong and energized at the conclusion of the convention, especially after Palin’s confident introduction Wednesday night.

“Everybody stereotypes the younger generation as Democrats and that we should be voting for Senator Obama,” Durrwachter said. “But I believe that the Republican Party is very strong right now, and I really think Republicans are going to do well this November.”