The relentless reporting in the media about internal GOP chaos in the aftermath of Mitt Romney’s defeat is entirely accurate. But that’s not all a bad thing if you’re a young Republican operative looking to make a mark and get some notice of your talent.
Chaos breeds opportunity, and after 32 years in DC, I’ve seen this several different times. It’s highly cyclical and the last big crack-up was after the embarrassing defeat of George H.W. Bush at the hands of Bill Clinton. I sank on that Titanic and, out of that chaos, came a consulting firm and lots and lots of gigs.
Did it take time? absolutely. But keep in mind the dispirit in the GOP after Bill Clinton’s win was wiped out just one cycle in the ’94 landslide.
The structural upheaval in the GOP will continue for some time, and am hardly predicting a 1994-like resurgence; the demographic trends are a powerful factor working against us in the current GOP Party construct.
But for any teenager of young twenty-something wanting to get involved and earn their way up the ladder, now is as good a time to make a mark as I’ve seen in 20 years. Campaigns are among the most upwardly mobile professions in existence. Campaign intern one day, congressional, gubernatorial or presidential staffer the next. Make it happen.