SEAL veteran Dan Crenshaw's mission: Make the GOP 'cool again'
by Al Weaver
| January 18, 2019 12:00 AM
Rep. Dan Crenshaw, R-Texas, wants to help make conservatism "cool" for younger voters who have been flocking to Democrats.
Fresh off his post-election appearance on "Saturday Night Live," Crenshaw thinks he can help translate Republican policies for young voters all around the country.
"Our biggest weakness is messaging, I think ... Getting people excited, making conservatism cool again," Crenshaw told the Washington Examiner in his Capitol Hill office. He said he sees himself as a "communicator above all else."
"I love digging deep into policy, but then thinking a lot more strategically on how to message that to people my age, people who aren't generally voting Republican. Somebody besides our base every once in a while," Crenshaw said. "That's what I think about all the time, and I think that's where I'll find my niche on any issues."
Crenshaw showed an ability to communicate with younger people when he appeared on "SNL" to rebut Pete Davidson, who said a week earlier that Crenshaw looks like a "hitman from a porno movie" because of his eye patch. Crenshaw, a former Navy SEAL who retired as a lieutenant commander, lost his eye in an IED explosion in Afghanistan in 2012.
News shows can't get enough of him. According to one GOP TV booker, one-third of the cable and network requests the party receives are for Crenshaw.
He has also been a top figure for the party on social media. When asked for his initial impressions of his fellow Lone Star State Republican, Sen. John Cornyn said he's a fan of Crenshaw's Twitter account. "I really like his social media stuff," Cornyn said. "He's pretty creative."
Crenshaw's presence on Twitter has some describing him as the GOP version of Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., minus her nearly 2.5 million Twitter followers.
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https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/congress/seal-veteran-dan-crenshaws-mission-make-the-gop-cool-again