Yes, it’s true. Existing in the wild today are conservatives who are in their twenties. Of course, when we go out, we normally have film crews following us: “Watch them enter those buildings. They come here every Sunday. We think they’re called churches” the narrator says. “Then after attending these ‘churches’, they go home, and watch cars drive quite quickly in a circle. It’s a growing sport, known as ‘NASCAR.’ We have yet to fully understand the rules, but we think it has something to do with the different colored flags they wave from time to time.” As far as the media and our peers are concerned, we might as well be some rare species.

So why is that people do not identify themselves as conservatives as these younger ages? The reasons lie both with external forces and with conservatives themselves. The external forces are numerous: public school systems are full of liberal teachers, pushing their views on their students; university campuses are full fledged indoctrination centers, and the drive-by media trumpets liberal ideas on nearly all topics everyday. Combining these factors together it’s easy to see why young “skulls full of mush” might be swayed into believing liberal ideals. Then, as more young people start saying they’re liberal, those that are afraid to be “left out” of the group, also say they’re liberal. Some younger girls make it known that they will not date (or beyond) a conservative male, while college-age males might prefer a girl who doesn’t follow a morality instilled by a solid conservative upbringing. In the end, a wave of factors come crashing down on young people, trying to get them to lean to the left.

Though blame for a lack of conservative young people can be placed on external factors, conservatives have to take some of the blames themselves. One of the major problems in getting young people to explain conservative ideals is explaining what conservatism is, especially when compared with how liberalism is defined. Take an issue like health care, where a liberal might say “Everyone should have their health care needs provided for”and a conservative might say “We should let the market help in lowering health care costs.” Clearly, someone who is not versed in economic principles and free-market concepts is going to be drawn to the liberals answer. Why? Because it just “seems nice”. In addition to the lack of message coming from conservatives, you have people like Jon Stewart (who more twenty-somethings get their news from than probably any other newscaster) making this poor conveying of principles sound even more ridiculous.

So how can this trend be reversed? The easiest way would be if a charismatic conservative, with excellent oratory skills, was to emerge on the national stage. The question then becomes: Is there such a person out there? The conventional wisdom is that the next big “star’ of the Republican party is Eric Cantor, but as Bob Novak said recently, “he’s a makes the trains run on time” type of guy. That’s not what the Republican party and the Conservative movement need right now, and finding what they do need, might be a long time in the making.