Born in 1986, I am a member of the emerging force increasingly becoming known as the "Millennial generation" or the "Millennials." We are roughly defined as those born from 1980-2003 and are the fastest growing demographic entering the political scene. My voting group holds political, social, and cultural views initially developed during the partisan 1990s, but we and our beliefs have been uniquely defined by the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks and the political atmosphere that's existed ever since. As the first generation that doesn't remember a time without the internet, there are substantial differences between the way we relate to our peers and the world and the way people older than us do. We represent the largest shift in paradigm and attitude between American generations since television and Vietnam's affect on Baby Boomers, and the 2008 election year has put this truth on dramatic display.
The facts are this: in the March 4 Ohio primary Hilary Clinton won 69% of the 60+ year old voters while Obama won 61% of 18-29 year olds. In Texas Clinton captured 62% of the 60+ vote and Obama carried 18-29 year olds with 59%. In Wisconsin Obama got 70% of 18-29 year olds and Clinton got 54% of those 60+. Maryland: Obama won 64% of 18-29 year olds and Clinton won the 60+ vote...again. This split has been the most predictable voting trend in this Democratic primary.
The sharp difference between these age groups has plagued and puzzled me since I first became aware of its existence. Why is there such a sharp difference between Millennials and the generation most of our parents identify with? More specifically, why is it that those who came of age during the 1960s, a group that I roughly associate with the Baby Boomers and have always considered the 20th century's primary champions of idealism and youth empowerment, voting so dramatically different than the new voters of today? For a generation that fought and pleaded with America to pay attention to its youth, they're certainly not doing a good job of doing so themselves. What happened to all their cries for America to pay attention to its new generation of voters? Is it that when they were working to get the government to listen to its young generation during the '60s they really just wanted them to listen to THEM? Perhaps that's why so many Baby Boomers are not practicing what they preached now that there's finally another young generation of politically involved citizens.
I don't mean to be harsh, but the beliefs and attitudes of the "children of the 1960s" are today's status quo. Their ideas are not novel anymore, at least not to today's youth. I know that growing up is hard, but the truth is that this country's future does not belong to them any more -- it belongs to us Millennials, and frankly, I'm a little tired of the hypocrisy Baby Boomers have shown during this election. If they really believe or believed that the government and/or establishment should listen to the wishes of the youth, then why aren't they doing so themselves now that they hold all the positions power? It is an unarguable fact that the vast majority of young Democratic voters want the country to go in the direction Barack Obama offers to take us; the direction that he, just being who he is with the story that he has, represents. Yet the majority of Baby Boomers voted for Clinton during this primary season, thinking "they just know better than today's young people because they're older and more experienced in the real world now."
To be fair, I must acknowledge all the progress that the young generation of the 1960s accomplished. They fought for women's rights, participated in the Freedom Rides, matched through Washington, and tirelessly protested an unjustified proxy war against the USSR in Vietnam. It is because of them that most Millennials are able to both recognize the differences between traditional demographics, such as male/female, racial groups, and homosexuals/heterosexuals, while at the same time be unaffected by them. Baby Boomers were revolutionaries in many ways, and there's a great deal of gratitude my generation owes them. But Millennials, largely because so many of us were raised by these aggressive fighters for justice and civil rights who constantly reminded us to view everyone as equal, the status quo has become a little more of an equal playing field. Politically correct language is what we know, and although underlying racism and sexism still courses through the subconscious of this country, Millennials are much less likely to act or behave according to it than those older than us. We are simply a much more civil and significantly less partisan generation than that of our parents.
Which is why the women (and even the young girls) among us overwhelming support Barack Obama despite the longing we share with our elders to see a woman president? I suspect that even many of the female Baby Boomers who claim to support Clinton for reasons other than her gender subconsciously feel an underlying loyalty to her because they relate to her struggles against the "glass ceiling." What the generation of the '60s does not understand is that their work actually did succeed in creating a world of slightly greater equality for their children. They fought their fights and won many of the subsequent battles. The other result is that the Baby Boomer culture wars are now outdated and the continued conversations about them are just mind-numbingly repetitive and even humorous to many Millennials.
A couple months ago I called into my local oldies radio station and asked the DJ several questions about this dichotomy within the Baby Boomer generation. She told me that, generally, her age group's overall resistance to live up to the principles they once fought for have troubled and confused her as well. She really didn't know how to answer my question about why this hypocrisy exists, so she just said, "Well, I guess we've always been strong willed...always believed that we're right and fought against those who think otherwise. But I think it really comes down to that many of us are having trouble growing up, letting go and passing the torch." This is understandable, yet it doesn't diminish the fact that it is definitely the Millennials turn to start taking the reigns.
So here is my plea to all Baby Boomers and those who consider themselves to have come of age during the '60s: please respect the wishes of my generation. We know the direction we want to take this country, even those of us who aren't particularly engaged in the political scene. Remember the way you felt about Bobby Kennedy, John F. Kennedy, Martin Luther King, George McGovern, and all your other leaders. Imagine if you had been able to have your way in regards to them.
We Millennials have gotten our way in this primary, and Barack Obama's nomination is contagiously exciting to the vast majority of us. So I beg you, if you ever really believed that this country should pay more attention to the future desired and fought for by its young generation, support Barack Obama just out of your old respect for that idea regardless of your personal beliefs. Let go of your anger and the idea that a protest vote for John McCain in November would be better than voting for Obama just because you're frustrated you didn't get your way. That is a completely selfish and self-centered idea based only on the notion that this is still your country to steer. It isn't, so get down off the soapbox and hand over the torch. You may think that we're wrong, but what my generation wants is clear and we deserve our parent's respect just as much as your beliefs did.