To many, the republican candidates for president have come to resemble something of a three-ring circus and many millennials are not on board which could be a problem for the Grand Old Party.
Millennials make up about 40 percent of eligible voters, according to the Center for American Progress. Many believe that millennials are apathetic to the election process and are uninterested in politics. However, millennials are not tied to the biases of the past and while they have skepticism in their government, most millennials also want more accountability for government.
While both parties are vying for the millennial vote, the GOP's millennial problems run deep. A survey by the Pew Research Center suggested that the way to win millennials was through promoting equality, tackling climate change, and gay marriage.
On issues of of pay equality, conservatives have taken a lot of heat for repeatedly blocking equal pay legislation and watering down versions of equal pay bills. The fact the gender pay gap still exists 50 years after the Equal Pay Act, is something that is on the mignd of many voters.
On climate change, many republican candidates deny it. Donald Trump even goes as far as saying that it is a conspiracy created by and for the Chinese, despite science proving otherwise.
In June, when gay marriage was made legal in all 50 states, many republicans candidates called it an attack on "traditional" marriage and religious freedoms. This rhetoric about religious freedoms also seems to be one sided, where as many republicans constantly press the issue of "religious freedoms" for Christians, they are the first to want to monitor mosques and deport American-born citizens because they are Muslims. Many even went so far as to compare Trump's suggestion to have Muslims marked with the way Hitler marked the Jews during WWII.
Many millennials who do consider themselves republicans also find themselves not agreeing with the candidates whole-heartedly. While many may oppose abortion for their own ethical reasons, many do not understand the restriction on access to birth control and see that defunding Planned Parenthood would limit access to healthcare for millions of Americans--men and women alike. Additionally, after the Planned Parenthood shooting in Colorado, republican candidates used it as a way to spew the rhetoric that they sold fetal body parts as stated in videos that came out this summer that were later proved to have been doctored. The Republicans have vowed to defund Planned Parenthood.
The list of proposals by the GOP front-runner goes on and on. A lot of people like him because he "speaks his mind," never minding the fact that most of the things coming out of his mouth are mostly rubbish. The fact-checking website, PolitiFacts awarded Trump with the Lie of Year Award, stating that 76% of his statements were rated as Mostly False, False, or Pants on Fire. One of his most vicious lies involved saying that thousands and thousands of people (Muslims) were dancing in the streets on 9/11/2001 (Donald Trump)
Trump is not the only Republican candidate making ludicrous claims. Jeb Bush suggested that teen moms should be publicly shamed, Mike Huckabee compared Planned Parenthood to terrorists. Ted Cruz said President Obama wanted to bring Syrian refugees here to "slaughter Americans." He (and many others) also believe that the Jade Helm military exercise was a conspiracy to seize guns (many republicans believe there is nothing we can do to stop mass shootings).
With all of these claims and mudslinging it's hard for anyone who is on the fence about their party affiliation to take the GOP seriously. Many critics have said that the party has venture far away from their roots and that today's candidates don't represent what Republicans stood for in the past, still more would disagree with that. Either way, 40% of voters are considered millennials and they are not impressed.
