Churchill is often quoted as saying, "If you are young and are not a Liberal, you have no heart; if you are older and are not Conservative, you have no brain." Brown students and alums are no exception.
Though eight out of 10 Brown students are "liberal" or "moderate," according to Thefacebook.com, our alumni base is much more conservative. Extrapolating forward, we can expect a good chunk of the Class of 2005 to be voting conservative in 30 years. When you think about it, this is a pretty astounding shift in opinions, and it begs the question for Democrats: Can we prevent it?
To answer that, let's look at what makes young liberals move right with age. Some big factors are certainly predictable. Having children raises concerns about security. A weekly paycheck provokes the tempting meme of tax cut panaceas. And as our brains start shrinking, we generally resist change and prefer conserving things: existing social norms, the status quo, and our lucky Bingo board.
Let's play "What if?" What if we could prevent this ideological exodus? What if we could persuade more liberal students nationwide to maintain faith in progressive politics into middle and old age? If we could make even a 5 percent reduction on this long-term defection rate, then the political face of this country would gradually move in a more progressive direction. Conservative plans for a permanent Republican majority would be quashed. We have a great opportunity before us for any student who cares about America's future to make a difference. Here. Now.
The challenge - and opportunity - for the Democratic Party is to ensure that Democratic college students stay Democratic. It's about loyalty. Businesses spend heavily on customer loyalty because they know it's 10 times easier to keep an existing customer than to sign up a new one. Similarly, the Democratic Party must work hard to maintain one of its greatest advantages: the prevalence of liberal attitudes among college students.
Psychology tells us that if people make a free, public commitment to something - and put their names to it - they are much more likely to stick to it in the future, even adjusting their self-image to appear consistent.
One answer, then, is a "Progressive Pledge." Every student is invited to articulate why he or she identifies as liberal. Because we spend so much energy decrying the Bush administration, Democrats often lose track of what we're in favor of, such as equal rights, energy independence, and clean air and water.
The Brown Democrats would then keep track of the students and their pledge after graduations with the ruthlessness of a college development officer. Every year they would be asked if they still hold the same values they committed to a year earlier. The answer from ages 22 to 23, from 52 to 53, and all those in between will tend to remain consistent.
Although this strategy can be executed at colleges nationwide, it can surely start with the Brown Democrats - some of the best-known, best-mobilized College Dems in the nation.
A "Progressive Pledge" is a fairly simple idea. But as Churchill also said, "All great things are simple." I think a widely instituted "Progressive Pledge" could help ensure the Democratic Party's long-term prosperity.
Andrew K. Stein '06 walks upright and uses tools.
