Reaganomics be ill, yo.

Recently, Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele vowed to bring the conservative Republican agenda to "urban-suburban hip-hop settings" in an "off the hook" public relations offensive. Seriously.

This comes as little surprise considering the massive beat down the GOP suffered this past November. Oh, and what a coincidence, to an energetic black man who knew how to work the internet to attract the youth vote.

The problem? The GOP image does little to attract young voters, especially in those "hip-hop settings" Mr. Steele plans to court. It doesn't help matters when your party nominates two candidates who have become synonymous with the GOP image: a conservative rich old white man, and a sycophantic woman who agrees with anything he tells her to, regardless of whether or not she understands what she's nodding to with that confused look on her face. There's your image problem, Chairman Steele.

Pretty fly for an old, rich white guy.

The solution? PR makeover. Spin the GOP image to attract the young, urban, hip-hop voter. Use the internet and social networking to your full advantage to teach people that you're not a party of McCains and Bushes.

The problem with the solution? You are a party of McCains and Bushes.

Spin the image however you want, but it's going to be a difficult sell. After all, nothing says "that shit be dope" like "trickle-down economics." Nothing says "kegger" quite like severely restricted individual liberties.

While Obama received endorsements from Kanye West and the Arcade Fire, McCain had Rush Limbaugh and Hank Williams, Jr. And nothing says "my parents left for the weekend and we're going to party all night" like Rush and Bocephus.

You want to appeal to the youth? Pay attention to what the youth care about. Don't keep pushing the same tired conservative agenda that attracts their parents or their trust-fund friends who spend spring break on a private beach in a tropic paradise no one's ever heard of. You've got those people, no matter which trained monkey you nominate. If you want the youth vote, listen to what the youth want. My guess is it isn't privatized social security. My guess is it isn't outlawed abortions. My guess is it isn't an even longer, more drawn-out conflict in Iraq so even more of their friends can come home missing limbs or shell-shocked for reasons they don't understand. The people who those messages appeal to already voted for McCain. You need to target the people who either voted for Obama or didn't vote at all. Your image isn't the problem. It's your message. While your message continues to be out of touch with the youth voter, you're not going to win them over no matter how many tweets you get on Twitter.

I think Steele gets part of this, or at least he plans to target certain demographics the GOP failed to carry. For instance: “we need to uptick our image with everyone, including one-armed midgets.” Well, that's a start, I guess. Pretty gangsta. Keep it reele, Chairman Steele.

This guy voted for Bob Barr.