It's not just the rise of Donald Trump that has divided opinions among the Grand Old Party. Many younger Republicans seem more liberal than their parents' generation, and this is marginalising sections of America's youth vote.
Mark Sanders could not seem to find the right word to describe how he was feeling. Abandoned? Neglected? Shunned?
“Sidelined,” he says. “I’m feeling a bit sidelined.”
Mr Sanders, 29, who is not related to US Democratic candidate Bernie Sanders, was one of several young Republicans who say they have been feeling left out by their own party.
The New York City software engineer singles out Donald Trump, the front-runner for the Republican nomination, for corrupting the party’s political brand.
“I’m a little annoyed,” Mr Sanders says. “I feel like he’s taking the party backwards. His intolerance and his lack of knowledge in policy, plus the way he treats everyone, he’s taken the party to a place that no longer represents many Republicans, particularly us younger folk.”
It is not just Mr Trump, he says. His generation no longer relates to some of the values of older Republicans.
“Our nickname is the Grand Old Party but I’m a bit more open-minded about things. And I know I’m not the only one,” Mr Sanders says, naming contentious issues such as gun control, immigration, marriage equality and the economy.
The most recent data from the Pew Research Centre in Washington DC shows the current generation of voters aged between 18 and 33 is more culturally liberal and demographically diverse than those before it.
As a result of his liberal stance on social issues, Mr Sanders says: “We’ve become outsiders.”
In Chicago, MBA student Meagan Connelly, 27, admits she is struggling with some of the Republican Party’s more orthodox ideals, particularly those on immigration.
The three Republican presidential candidates – Mr Trump, Ted Cruz and John Kasich – have all supported a plan to build a wall along the Mexican border to combat illegal immigration.
Mr Trump has also called for “a total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the US”.
Ms Connelly says: “I have some Muslim friends, I have many Chinese friends and I know a lot of immigrants from Mexico and around the world.” She voted for Mr Kasich during last month’s primary in Illinois.
“You know, I can’t imagine how they feel whenever they hear Donald Trump’s racist statements. Honestly, I don’t know of any young person from my generation who doesn’t have a close friend who comes from an immigrant family or is an immigrant herself.”
In Boston, Massachusetts, John Dawson, 22, says that if Mr Trump became the Republican nominee, he would consider doing what many conservatives deem as unthinkable: “I might actually vote for Hillary,” he says.
“I can’t stand behind a candidate whose campaign has revolved around insults, someone who incites violence. That is not what I’m about and that is not what my party is about. He sure doesn’t represent me.”
Mr Dawson says he detests how Mr Trump portrays Republicans. “We’re not all dense or uneducated. We’re not crazy reactionaries. We’re not just smoking all day and shooting our guns.”
In New York, Pete Ward reflects on what it means to be young and Republican.
“I don’t think we’re a lost generation – that’s too extreme,” says Mr Ward. “But we’re definitely going through a sort of crisis of identity.”
The 29-year-old runs a non-profit start-up in Washington, and was standing outside the clubhouse of the New York Metropolitan Republican Club in the Upper East Side neighbourhood of Manhattan.
The former New York resident was visiting for the weekend and dropped by the clubhouse to meet friends.
“Are we dismayed by what’s happening during this election season, by the candidates voters are going for? There’s no doubt,” Mr Ward says. “But have we lost our faith and trust on the GOP? Not at all.”
Data from the board of elections in New York show that of the city’s 8.4 million residents, 3.1 million are registered as Democrats, while there are just over 470,000 Republican voters.
“When you live in New York, everybody automatically thinks you’re liberal,” says Mr Ward.
He used to attend the monthly socials of the New York Young Republican Club, whose members are aged between 18 and 40.
The club, founded in 1911 and the oldest of its kind in America, has brought together millennial Republicans to meet, network and promote the party’s principles, ensuring the GOP remains relevant with the new generation.
“About 30 to 50 people usually show up at the socials, which are held in bars and clubs around the city,” Mr Ward says.
He noticed a change when he attended one of the gatherings late last year, about the time Mr Trump was surging to the top of the polls.
“It had a gloomy feel. The idea that Donald Trump could be our nominee has dampened the club’s spirits,” he says. “That was months ago.
“I think the conversations happening right now are ‘what happens if he does win? How can we move the party forward?’”
Young Republicans say they have to deal with closed-mindedness by members of their party and the derision of their liberal contemporaries.
Voters between the ages of 18 and 29 have typically aligned themselves with the Democratic Party, according to recent data by the research and consulting firm Gallup.
The national polling indicates 53 per cent of young respondents identify themselves as Democrats, while 35 per cent are Republican.
On one recent Thursday night, a coffee shop in Miami in the state of Florida was packed with supporters of Mr Cruz, gathered to watch the night’s Republican presidential debate in Detroit, Michigan.
Regina, 24, was chatting with her companions about feelings of alienation.
“A friend at work asked me who I was voting for,” says Regina, who works in an advertising agency but has also been volunteering for Mr Cruz’s campaign. “When I told her I was voting for Ted, she gave me this look, like she was so disappointed with me.”
She was raised by Republican parents but would only give her first name out of fear that her leanings may affect her professional career.
“I’ve lied about my ideologies more than once, often to avoid any conflicts with my co-workers or bosses,” Regina says. “I have a friend who believes she got rejected at a law firm she was applying for because she was a conservative.”
She recalls that back in college she lost some friends after revealing to them that she was Republican.
“They made me feel like having the kind of values I have is a burden, like I’m not cool like them.
“People think I haven’t thought this through. Is this something that I have to hide?”
newsdesk@thenational.ae
