For their Truman Dinner on Saturday, the Boulder County Democrats hosted special guest speaker Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (“AOC”).  Almost 30, AOC – darling of the progressive Left – is the youngest woman yet elected to Congress.  Truthfully, she’s perfectly fit to keynote the dinner.  After all, there’s a reason Republicans jokingly call this haven for leftist thought and action the “People’s Republic of Boulder.” 

But AOC is, politically, not a genuine model of a Millennial.  Sure, she shares characteristics with a diverse Millennial Generation (born 1981-1997).  She’s a young Latina who graduated college with student debt and previously worked as a bartender.  Many Millennials – especially those with student debt who have struggled to obtain good-paying jobs since the Great Recession – can relate.

Yet, as I’ve written, a 2016 survey of Millennials found that 55% of Millennials lean left, lean right or have no lean – meaning they are “Politically Marginal Millennials,” or persuadables.  They’re up for grabs. 

To “counter” AOC’s speech here, I used my sixth anniversary show on 710KNUS as an opportunity to highlight young, conservative leaders on the national and local stages. 

Guests included Charlie Kirk (Turning Point USA executive director, 25), Morgan Zegers (Young Americans Against Socialism founder, 22), Anna Paulina Luna (Florida congressional candidate, 30), and Danielle Butcher (American Conservation Coalition COO, 22), along with Colorado residents Antonia Okafor (EmPOWERed 2A founder, 29), John Kellner (18^th Judicial District Attorney candidate, 37) and Alyssa Khamma (Colorado College Republicans Chairwoman, 21).

This extraordinary, diverse crop of young conservatives – mostly women – helped us understand several things about Millennials (and older cohorts of younger Generation Z).  More do find the abstract concept of socialism appealing – but we are still largely entrepreneurial, innovative and choice-seeking.

Millennials crave the best deals and, as Pew Research recently reported, “fully understand how to research and compare products and prices online.  Gallup data show that 80% of millennials shop for clothes, books or other retail items using the Web…They use it to manage their finances and pay bills, watch videos or listen to music, gather news and information, and conduct research on companies or organizations. And – thanks to (social media) – they use the Web to socialize.”

The desire for choice influences employment decisions. As AutomationWorld observed last month, “Millennials recognize that they have options and they don’t feel the need to stay with a job that isn’t the best fit for them.”  Millennials want to work for companies that share their values, respect flexibility and care about the environment.  Employers are responding.

Today’s socialists want us to think choice and entrepreneurship won’t be strangled by socialism.  The opposite is true.  Sen. Bernie Sanders’ “Medicare-for-All” bill, backed by Boulder Democrats keynote AOC, would eliminate private health insurance with a newfound government monopoly – meaning choice would disappear.

Today’s AOC socialists seek to control health care, education, energy production and distribution, transportation, investing and much more.  We’ve already seen this pan out in the 2019 General Assembly on issues like energy.  Greater government control decimates entrepreneurship.

Millennials are answering the entrepreneurial call.  For example, those between ages 20 and 35 have on average founded double the number of businesses as those over 50.

Denverite Ryan Hein, 29, is the quintessential Millennial entrepreneur.  For as long as I’ve known the married father of one – 15 years – Ryan has been driven to innovate, to do and to succeed at innovating and doing.  He’s in real estate, works for a tech company and recently founded Pexa Project, a company geared toward simplifying the cryptocurrency space.

“Being an entrepreneur is all about learning to serve people well, and a lot of them,” he tells me.  “This is the best way we can give back to our community, to our elders and to our generation. Business is about serving people, not taking from them.”

The abundance of choice and entrepreneurial opportunities is driven by free enterprise, which protects private property, is directed by supply-and-demand and allows individuals to identify a need and fill it if and how they wish. 

If Colorado Democrats really think AOC and her brand of socialism will sustain and expand their gains, that’s fine. Republicans, though, should continue to heed the entrepreneurial and choice-craving nature of Millennials.  Message this effectively, and Colorado’s course can be Righted among young people.

Jimmy Sengenberger is host of “The Jimmy Sengenberger Show” on News/Talk 710 KNUS.  He is also president and CEO of the Denver-based Millennial Policy Center. His opinion is his own.