The presidential election ended in disappointment for the Republican Party as President Barack Obama will serve as our nations’ president for four more years. The disappointing outcome for the Republican Party should lead to change, as the Republicans clearly need to appeal to a younger generation if they want to succeed in today’s day and age.

Although I believe Mitt Romney was a quality candidate to take over the White House, his lack of appeal to certain crowds hampered the Republican Party as a whole. Many Republicans felt that Romney held the advantage over Obama because of the struggling economy, the unemployment rate and the national debt ceiling, but he was still unable to dethrone Obama.

Some Republicans have argued that Romney was not conservative enough to appeal to the Republican Party as a whole. Although Romney is viewed as one of the more moderate Republican candidates in recent memory, saying that he was not conservative enough is a vast overstatement. Romney beat out conservative candidates Rick Santorum, Michele Bachmann and Newt Gingrich to earn the Republican presidential nominee.

Based on this past election, Republicans should see they need to find new ways to appeal to specific demographics.

In the 2012 election, 60 percent of voters between the ages of 18-29 decided to vote for President Obama, and 52 percent of voters between the ages of 30-44 chose to vote for President Obama.

The 2012 election had the largest gender gap in the history, according to the Gallup poll. By gender, 55 percent of women chose to vote for Obama, while 52 percent of men decided to vote for Romney. For single women, Obama won the vote by 36 percent.

Though widespread appeal is ideal, Republicans should find a way to do this without compromising their morals. Conservative morals are something that the Republican Party must continue to live by, but minor changes or a deeper understanding of the current issues facing our nation’s youth could lead to better results in 2016.

I’m not saying that Republicans should abandon their views on LGBTQA or abortion. These are issues that define the Republican Party, but it is also something that has divided our nation as a whole. Their views on social issues likely did not definitively decided the election, but a more lenient stand on policies facing our country could result in several “swing states” going red in the next election.

Our nation’s demographics are ever-changing. The Republican Party did a poor job of appealing to minority voters as the majority of the “swing states” went Obama’s way as a result. Some Republicans have made efforts to limit immigration, alienating certain groups with similar interests and have refused to adapt to changes that have swept across the nation.

This unwillingness to adapt to change will continue to hurt the Republican Party in the future. The party needs to keep its defining views intact, but the willingness to adapt to the ever-changing policies that our nation is facing is of utmost importance for future success.

Jordan Pottorff is a senior journalism major. He can be reached at 581-2812 or denopinions@gmail.com.