Republicans Won’t Win Back the Youth Vote With a Culture War

Last week, the Missouri House of Representatives passed a budget that eliminated aid to local libraries amid a dispute over the constitutionality of a state ban on “explicit material” in public schools. Last month, legislators in Tennessee approved a law restricting drag performances on public property or anywhere minors might be present. Over the past few years, Florida governor Ron DeSantis has presided over a series of policies attempting to eradicate critical race theory and other ideas associated with the political left from school curriculums.

The controversies over these and similar measures don’t merely demonstrate how acrimonious today’s culture wars have become. They also reveal how much politics has become an intergenerational battle, with older traditionalists against younger progressives.