Talking About My Generation

I have always heard people say that they felt old for the first time when the President of the United States is younger than they are . Barack Obama (thankfully) is older than me - but only by a few months so I guess I have the best of both worlds. First, a Presidential candidate that represents my generation for the first time, but also I can say that I am "younger than the President". It's clear to me that one of the reasons I have supported Obama from the start is that he spoke like I thought. No politician has reflected my perspective so closely and articulated it so clearly probably because they have all been a generation or more older than I am. As we move to the general election it will be in many way a battle of generations: My dad's (who is a few months younger than John McCain) vs. my own generation. This has happened sooner than I expected but then again, George W. Bush has changed the landscape of America and the political world to make it necessary.

The boomers could not let the 1960's go and the Clinton's, Bush's, Rove's and Limbaugh's seemed unable or unwilling to stop fighting the culture wars from that era. They also (especially on the Right) developed a younger generation who, despite having no memory of an era prior to their birth, are filled with the same anger and resentment that had driven their mentors into politics. What that has left us is polarized and blind to the real problems that face the USA. We may be on the verge of this all coming to an end.

In an ironic twist, John McCain is a little too old to be a part of the 60's mess (although he will probably rail against it) and Obama, of course, is too young to have been tainted by all that. So while pundits and some campaign officials will try to reignite the flames of discontent that has defined our politics for the past generation, Barack Obama will move beyond that and John McCain will be unpersuasive about it. It's happened sooner than I thought it would be but it looks like my generation may now get the responsibility to repair the breech of that troubled era.

UPDATE: Found this related commentary in a UK newspaper.