5 Questions Millennials Would Ask the GOP If There Were a Youth Debate

The White House just joined the popular social network Google+ in a move that suggests a willingness to reach out and communicate with millennial voters, an increasingly important and hard-hit voting group that could tip the balance between President Obama and his Republican challenger in 2012.   

And, since it seems that youth voters are now flocking to the libertarian crusade of Republican presidential hopeful Ron Paul (R-Tex), it is time for millennials to join the likes of Twitter and Facebook and co-sponsor a Republican presidential debate in which the remaining GOP field could address the concerns of this pivotal American generational group.

If this debate were ever able to take place, here are the first 5 suggested questions. I encourage you to add many more.

1. Speaker Gingrich, you pledged during the CNN South Carolina Republican debate to repeal President Obama’s healthcare bill. How would you address young adults’ lack of health coverage once they’re thrown out of their parents’ plans into a still challenging job market where internships and part-time positions don’t offer health benefits?  

2. Governor Romney, you told young voters, “elect me, you’ll get a job: elect Obama, you won’t.” Beyond repealing the Dodd-Frank bill, how are you going to deliver on this promise if the private sector has been reluctant to hire new help, despite record corporate profits, preferring to overwork instead its existing teams and unpaid interns?

3. Senator Santorum, please pay attention to the following video:

Millennials are America’s most culturally diverse and tolerant generation to date. Given that recently you compared same-sex marriage to polygamy, how do you expect to rally support from young voters when you have suggested that – as president – you wouldn’t recognized the rights of American families like Zach Wahls’?

4. Congressman Paul, you’ve been a critic of the Federal Reserve as well as an advocate for a strong and sound currency. If you become president and the Fed is indeed eliminated, how would you face the threat of inflation, and do you consider that going back to the gold standard is practical in a economy as globalized as ours?

5. To all candidates, most elected officials have withdrawn their support from the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) amid an online backlash during which popular websites blacked out in protest to what many consider a threat to privacy and freedom of speech. As president of the United States, how would you make sure Americans’ freedom of speech and privacy are protected while also protecting the rights of American content creators?

Can you think about more questions? Please add them below.    

Photo Credit: Wikimedia Commons