"Are there any conservatives in the house?" thundered Michael Steele, the new chairman of the Republican Party. He was getting funky, to use the GOP's new vernacular, as he scanned the hotel ballroom for young conservatives: "Young people in the house, stand up!"
Turning to serious matters, Steele urged his allies to acknowledge their party's mistakes, while salting the message with millennial slang. "Tell America: 'We know the past, we know we did wrong--my bad.' " Escalating the banter, master of ceremonies Michele Bachmann, a 52-year-old Minnesota Congresswoman most famous for suggesting an investigation of Barack Obama's "anti-American views," took the mic from Steele and proclaimed, "You be da man!" Twice.
Who needs SNL when you have CPAC?
This cultural flailing might seem like little more than fodder for the late-night shows, but it also reinforces the demographic conundrum facing Republicans. And no, I'm not just talking about race.
Steele is the first African-American chairman of the GOP, a striking development that remains forever overshadowed by its catalyst, the election of President Obama. Leading a party pales next to leading the country, of course, but even if Steele had a bigger job, there are no silver medals for breaking barriers. You don't remember Larry Doby, do you?
So Steele soldiers on, sans street cred, in pursuit of those voters Obama won so convincingly. (More on who they are in a minute.) The strategy, Steele told the Washington Times, is a "hip-hop makeover" for Republicans. And he meant it.
In the past few weeks, Steele has reached out to the President via rap lyrics; advocated conservative principles in a television debate with Chuck D., star of the politically charged hip-hop group Public Enemy and, in a sign that Steele may be on to something, provoked a challenge for a freestyle rap battle from Stephen Colbert. Yes, Proposition Eight can finally meet Eight Mile. Now who exactly is this all for?
The media coverage has focused, predictably, on black voters. A Sunday article in the Boston Globe asked whether Steele can "lure minorities" to the GOP, while pundits have scoffed at the idea the Republicans would out-organize Barack Obama in black communities. Yet Steele is not just targeting black voters--the Democrats' most reliable voting bloc long before hope was trendy. He is focused on young voters, who flocked to Obama in the largest demographic shift of the 2008 election. The new chairman has said so directly, too: "Where we have fallen down in delivering a message is in having something to say, particularly to young people." And he is right--about the problem, anyway.
In 2004, John Kerry won voters under 30 by nine points, and lost every other age group.
Last year, Obama won those young voters by a staggering 34 points. (And he lost voters over 45).
If Obama can hold those voters' support, and keep them backing Democrats in Congress, the Republicans really would have no national future.
Young voters back Obama's policies, sure, but many also appreciate his youthful style and new-school "brand." For this generation, by default, hip-hop is the shared cultural experience. (See the top albums of the last decade, for example.)
Obama's comfort with that culture, and endorsements from its leaders, has earned him generational credibility. When Obama channeled Jay-Z on the campaign trail to brush the "dirt" of petty attacks off his shoulders, young people knew exactly what he meant. Older television pundits did not get the reference. Some even conceded their confusion while blasting the gesture as "contemptuous," (as the Washington Post reported at the time). Obama invoked hip-hop deftly and accurately. He played on the theme that being tough does not mean you respond to every attack. Just as Jay-Z confidently brushes away his enemies, and hip-hop culture scolds the "haters" who pillory successful people, Obama signaled that his political approach--transcending trench warfare and pessimistic snark--was cool, current and strong.
Now contrast that to Steele's gimmicky foray into dusty LPs. Here is his debut in the New York Times after assuming the chairmanship: " 'It's going to be an honor to spar with [Obama],' he said, before throwing down the gauntlet to Mr. Obama with a quotation from... a rap song by Kool Moe Dee: 'How ya like me now?' "
First of all, what is he talking about? How does the president like a former lieutenant governor now that he's become chairman of the opposition party? It doesn't even make sense. Second, the album is twenty-two years old, so this reference does not exactly resonate with young people.
The spectacle got more awkward when Steele offered Bobby Jindal some "slum love" for doing a "friggin' awesome job" as governor of Louisiana, in an ABC radio interview. As the Wonkette blog pointed out, this mess of a shoutout was actually coaxed out of Steele, based on his proclivity for questionable slang. All this heavy-handed hip-hop may make him "da man" for fellow travelers like Rep. Bachman. To young people, Steele just looks like he's fronting.
In the end, however, this is all still a welcome trend. For decades, our national politics were fueled by a supposed cultural backlash from older whites--from Willie Horton and the White Hands to the Pledge of Allegiance and the Confederate Flag--which Republicans exploited and relayed through a range of cultural tropes. Democrats used to nervously compete on this turf. Just last year, in fact, an old-school consultant flanked by the battle flag was chiding Obama to drop the urban "elitism" and get rural.
Now the turntables have turned, as the GOP chairman might say. It is Republicans who are frantically remixing their message for cultural appeal, targeting a new generation of voters who speak a different language. And the Democrats, led by Obama, have found their rhythm.
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This column originally ran in The Nation.
COMMENTS UPDATE: An interesting take from HuffPo commenter hsm121:
I think that the whole thing is a joke. Part of the reason 0bama connects well is that he treats even the young people like intelligent adults and he doesn't try to bullsh*t us. The JayZ thing fit into what he was saying and it was low-key, not in-your-face. I'm one of those young people and watching Steele these past few weeks has just been cringe-inducing. Bling-bling? Slum-love? Etc? It's not his natural manner and it's not cool, it's embarrassing. It actually, to me, makes them look more out of touch than anything. Not only do they have a message problem, they have a messaging problem. It makes them look foolish. It's obviously fake. And young people, regardless of what some people think, are not instantly going to switch parties just because some leader says bling-bling and hip-hop or because some congressional reps are using twitter. Underestimating people and reducing them down to their simplest terms seems to be par for course for the Republicans.
Great article, and great response from the poster.
In reading this story, one electoral twist stood out: Obama lost among voters over 45. Ponder that a moment. The Baby Boom just lost an election. They'll lose the next one, too, because choices that will impact their retirements and healthcare must be made. America's turned another corner.
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I wish it were the way you are putting it but it isn't. The republicans actually hate liberals and democrats altogether.
See, here's the problem with that argument: a president's record doesn't start 10 months after he takes office.
And since I know the "it was Clinton's fault" thing is coming, I'll save you the trouble. Bush 43 went to great pains to undo any of Clinton's policies and practices. He did this out of hand, with no review as to the effectiveness said programs. It was the Bush ethos: I'm the anti-Clinton. It was, after all, Bush's idea to remove the Terrorism Liaison to the NSA from the Cabinet (and no, Richard Clarke is not a liberal patsy, he's a freakin' Reagan appointee).
So keep on pointing at the scoreboard.
However, we hadn't had one in the previous 7 years, either...
Obama didn't have to resort to slang to get his message across because he has substance.
As a Black American I am embarrassed for Steele...what a price he has paid to sleep with the enemy.
And it says alot about what the GOP still thinks of women and minorities. I'm waiting for the GOP to introduce its first Gay talent. Well, really I'm just eagerly awaiting the jokes and satire it will provide! We gay people will have a field day of fun with it.
You're so right Ari, Michael Steele is digging himself (and the GOP) a deeper hole with his faux "hip hop outreach". Not hip hop in a racial way (because blacks will never support Republicans en masse), but in a "generational way", because hip hop culture is consumed mostly by white youth in this country, and is the rage on every continent - the music, the clothes, the art, etc.
So when Barack Obama was supported in song lyrics, viral videos and rallies by Wyclef, Ludicrus, Eminem, Jay-Z, Lil Wayne, Common, and a boat load of other figures, that carried a great deal of weight with the multi-racial, multi-cultural group of fans whose lives are consumed by all things hip hop.
Oh, when you wrote "To young people, Steele just looks like he's fronting" I was thinking, you could have spelled "fronting" as frontin' because you've certainly got popular culture bonafides. This is just a great piece Ari. It's great material for you if you ever want try stand up comedy. Yes, its that funny.
Of course, I don't listen to much of the commercial crap they put on the radio these days, so I have a different perspective.
Absolutely false. It all depends on who you listen to. There is "Religious Hip Hop", but you should know that its a very small portion of hip hop songs. There is Irrational Exuberance Hip Hop, Empowerment Hip Hop, etc. There are choices, the smae choices you would would have if you're selecting movies. Hip hop is not monolithic, and anyone making the case for that argument is ignorant. So the notion that Lil Wayne (who I like) is compable to Common (who I also like) is just plain wrong. Dead wrong.