Young Republicans descended on New York City for the Republican National Convention. They may be party loyalist, but not all align themselves precisely with the policies of the incumbent administration and some are even uncertain about who they will vote for.
Colette Obzejta, 18, stood outside the Hotel Pennsylvania across from Madison Square Garden Aug. 29 and calmly watched the throngs of protesters pass some shouting obscenities and carrying signs that ridiculed and accused the president of lies, violence and hatred. 'It's their right, the freedom of speech and if they want to sit here and make fools of themselves, that's fine,' said the Villanova University student from behind a wooden police barricade. She stood there without engaging protesters and let presidential insults bounce off her.
'I support the president on everything he has done,' she said. 'I am for Iraq and I support his position on abortion. Just go through the list and he's got them all nailed down for me.' Obzejta was a page at the convention and helped with logistics. But like many young Republicans in town, Obzejta picks and chooses from the party platform in a way that may surprise both fellow delegates and gay-rights activists alike. 'There is no reason to deny gays and lesbians the right to partnership,' she said. 'There is no reason that people who are homosexual cannot be perfect parents.'
In fact, some young Republicans came to their first political convention specifically to disagree with their party's platform. Of course there are the Log Cabin Republicans who work from within the party to dismantle anti-gay planks. Jeff Cook is the national field director for the organization and at 25, he can easily reconcile Republican policy with a gay lifestyle. 'Now we are not fighting for liberal things. We're not fighting to be able to have sex. We're fighting to be able to have families,' he said in an interview. 'As people start talking about slowing down and having a family, they tend to be much more Republican. I think that's going to happen to the gay community.'
It's not just Young and gay Republicans pushing change in their party. On Aug. 29 members of the Republican Youth Majority (RYM) gathered in a Midtown Hotel for a welcoming reception. 'Our motto is 'Pro Choice, Pro Environment, Pro Fiscal Responsibility,' Evan Herman said. Herman, 23, is a recent graduate of Tulane University in New Orleans. Herman and others were drawn to the moderate stance on social issues and the message of diversity and inclusion that the RYM represents. The organization paid his way to New York City in exchange for working at the convention.
'Three hours of sleep a day for the past three days and I am still running strong,' John Little said. Little, a 24-7 volunteer, studies business administration at Tennessee State and rode 21 hours on a bus to work for the RYM. 'This is my first time dealing with Republicans,' he said with a drawl. 'The Republican Party is diverse in race, in gender, in political views and what side they stand on and that is one thing I like.' Little wanted to meet people and find out more about the party and make an informed decision.
'The war, [the president] got a bad rap for that,' he said. 'You need strength at a time when people are scared and he showed true leadership.' On other issues, such as the FMA, Little disagrees with the president. 'I feel church and state should be different. When the federal government gets involved, it creates chaos like it is creating now.'
Rachel Khalili, a recent college graduate, traveled from San Clemente, Calif., to perhaps jumpstart a political career and the RYM fits her like a glove. 'The Republican Party has started to alienate some of its members because it has been so hard-core conservative,' she said. 'I just want the party to be more inclusive and a more moderate kind of appeal where they accept people with other kinds of beliefs.'
Khalili declined to say if she would vote for the president in November. 'I really like his tax cuts and things, but I don't agree with his stance on gay marriage and on abortion rights,' she said. 'I am here to support the Republican Party and I am here to promote the message of inclusion.'
A run-in with protesters outside the California delegation's hotel shocked Khalili, the 22-year-old with a rosy Republican disposition. 'I am not used to that kind of blatant hatred,' she said. The hardest part was not responding to accusations. 'They were saying, 'you're pro-life, you're anti-abortion,' and I was thinking, 'no, I am not. Can I just explain to you my position on these things?'' Instead she just smiled and kept walking.
Protesters' use of obscene language and in-your-face tactics puzzled some young visitors. At a Youth Convention at Madison Square Garden, young Republicans convened to hear speakers like Jenna and Barbara Bush, Ari Fleisher and Andrew Card, the White House chief of staff. Loud whistles interrupted Card's speech when he addressed the importance of discipline and three men and one woman stood on their chairs, raised a banner and removed their outer clothes. Underneath T-shirts read 'Bush Global AIDS Liar.' Young Republicans seated nearby backed away at first and then surrounded them and blocked the anti-Bush message with 'W' signs and chants of 'four more years.' Men in dark suits carried the political stowaways out by their shackled hands and feet. Two other men in suits were also carried out.
The Youth Convention brought together all factions of the Republican youth, including those who are more closely aligned with Bush on social issues. Like Oliver Wolf, a young delegate from Maine who called the partial-birth abortion ban 'a step in the right direction' and Andrew Dell, the chairman of the College Republicans at the University of Georgia and a delegate from that state. Dell would support the FMA.
Many young people, who mix religion and politics, find morality in Bush's most controversial policies. Jamie Henning, 17, will not be old enough to vote in November, but she will volunteer for Bush-Cheney when she returns to St. Louis. 'I am a Christian and in the Bible it says that being homosexual is wrong … God says it's a sin,' she said.
'I'm a very passionate Christian,' said Peter Neethling, a page from Sacramento who calls homosexuality 'a very destructive force and it is an act that causes pain.'
Cook is well aware of these attitudes but he said it's nothing compared to what he hears from other gay people. 'Gay people have a lot of hostility and for good reason,' he said. 'A lot of them have experienced rejection and hurt and it's understandable that gays and lesbians respond more to the political hug that Democrats like to give instead of the naked reason that Republicans like to show.'
But don't even gay Republicans need a hug every once in a while?
'Gay Republicans feel betrayed by this administration and I think it's a reasonable feeling,' he admitted. 'We were promised that the President believed in federalism and believed that the government is best that is closest to the people but he doesn't believe it on marriage anymore.'
