Obama's Millennials -- 83 Million Strong

In "McCain is a Lousy Candidate: He Will Be Clobbered in November" (May 3, 2008), I pointed out the importance of understanding the upcoming election in generational terms, and not just because of the quarter-century age difference between Obama and McCain.

You will not get much of this from the MSM. The anointed pundits slice-and-dice the electorate into the old categories--blue-collar white voters, Latinos, African-Americans, women, catholics, gays, and so on--but miss the phenomenal change occurring under their upturned nostrils.

There are 83 million millennials, people born after 1980 who came of age around the millennium. That is about 5 million more than the baby boomers. The MSM refers to the millennials as just another category in their slice-and-dice political worldview. And, until Barack Obama, they did not vote, nor even care very much about politics.

But, it is not just a matter of the "youth vote," The millennials are quite different from those who preceded them. Having grown up in a multicultural society, having seen people of all races and creeds and genders in everything from the professions to politics, from schools to the military, from sports to music, and from film to theater, they are just not subject to the same appeals to fears-of-otherness that is the hallmark of Republican electoral strategy.

Those terrible 'activist' Justices who decided Brown v. Board of Education in 1954 had it about right: separation implies (and perpetuates) inequality. Exposure, the corollary of their decision, trumps the brain's hardwired fear of otherness. In many respects the millennials represent the first generation that may, indeed, actually live the America we have always sought to build.

Because of their different worldviews, millennials may appear to be generational chauvinists because they do not identify with the worn slice-and-dice categories upon which the MSM enjoys perseverating. Because of their numbers, Obama's ability to mobilize them is one key advantage in the general election.

Barack Obama's life appeals to millennials because it is the new American story. He, himself, the product of a mixed race couple, and not shy about it. He, himself, who was raised in part by his grandparents, and who has touched almost every facet of the American experience except the rural: single parent, food stamps, mother unable to get medical insurance, the community and black liberation church but also the Ivy League, and the achievement -- no mean feat these days, just ask John McCain's, Newt Gingrich's, Bob Dole's, Rush Limbaugh's ex-wives -- of a stable, picturebook marriage with two (extraordinarily cute!) kids.

As he strives to transcend the old divisions in politics, his millennial base has already transcended them. The radical right can stir whatever fears it wants about gay marriage, but the millennials not only have accepted gay marriage, they cannot comprehend why it is even a question....and, unless stem cells provide eternal life, it is they that shall inherit the earth, as each year more and more become of age. When Hillary Clinton ponders her own historic presidential campaign, she will understand that the millennials took a woman's right and ability to be president for granted...not out of lack of appreciation for their elders, but because it is just so obvious to them that an alternative does not even pass the smell test. So, they did not see her race as affirming as her boomer supporters, and they bristled when she spoke in the language of division. It did not matter to them whether that divisive language was deliberate or inadvertent.

Listen also to the voices of the boomer parents (e.g., Maria Shriver, Caroline Kennedy) who supported Obama in the primaries; many have credited their children's pleas. I know many other not well-known boomer parents who say the same.

Millennials disproportionately populate the net that represents a previously non-existent bulwark against the hate, the prejudice, the not-so-subtle-but-previously-deniable attempts to sow fear from "otherness." Want to understand that power? Ask George Allen, who made a career of smiling indirect appeals to race, and found he was unable to deny it when the macacca video surfaced. Their web-roars migrate to major media and provide counterfodder to the scurrilous attacks from the right wing.

Most importantly, however, such fear-mongering just does not strike their amygdalas, that reptilian part of the brain that triggers the defensive, closed mind reaction when the brain encounters an unfamiliar situation. Why? It is not that the brain has changed, but that the situations the radical righties conjure are not "unfamiliar"! If not facing or imagining something as unfamiliar, the fear response recedes (usually 0.75 seconds), and the caring response has room to assert itself.

[By the way although their parents certainly consider them "perfect," this is not to suggest that millennials are without their own issues, or even superior...just qualitatively different from prior generations, and thus not merely "the youth vote" that has been part of the slice-and-dice analyses in the past].

The millennials feel in their bones that George Bush has screwed them both psychologically and economically. Several generations of Americans have now grown up expecting to be safe and the world's leading economy. The millennials represent the first post-World War II generation that, upon coming of age, has great uncertainty that they will inherit that legacy. It is if they may be expelled from Eden. By bungling not only 9/11 but also Katrina, and then miring the country in what he (and McCain) contend is an endless war in Iraq that in turn has emboldened an Iran intent on becoming nuclear, Bush and McCain provide an existential threat to millennials' future well-being.

And, of course, as the number of soldiers required to execute Bush-McCain foreign policies becomes fully understood, millennials will see that the Bush-McCain approach will lead either to defeat for lack of sufficient troops or to a military draft. For them, therefore, the only salvation from being expelled from Eden or conscripted into one failed regime-change war after another, is a government that takes a different approach.

Although not of that generation himself, Obama fits the millennials' needs and aspirations. His very life is a testimony to their worldview. The reason that Obama did not do as poorly against Hillary Clinton as might have been predicted among the old slice-and-dice groups is that the millenials who doubled as a blue collar, or latino, voted more with their generation than with their other identity groups.

What about John McCain? Although the X-ers and boomers may have some recollection of McCain the maverick, to millennials such claims do not pass the laugh-test. It is not that McCain is old -- it is that he views the world from a worn perspective. Millennials have very little regard for McCain's "base" -- the MSM that gives him a free pass.

And, let's face it. McCain is deadly dull.

Obama's challenge is to keep the connection and the excitement going for the millennials while not ignoring the other generational groups especially the boomers, because of their numbers. More on that in the next chapter.

Comments

[SeanGardner]

I agree Mr. Abrams.

This youth movement we're witnessing right now is much greater and more substantive than the one in 1992 when we witnessed Bill Clinton trying to appeal to young people/popular culture by playing a saxophone on "The Aresenio Hall Show". Clearly, Obama's appeal is much greater: he understands the new media and married his political fortunes to it from day 1. This is why he is the undisputed king of YOUTUBE; this is why he was a rousing hit when he visited GOOGLE Headquarters for a discussion; this is why young people of every color love him dearly.

And what's more, young people see him the way he is, and don't try to label him as "exotic". It burns me up when bright journalists like Julie Mason, Margaret Carlson and Howard Fineman use loaded terms like "exotic". Exotic? Its almost as if they can't use the words like "multi-cutural", "multi-racial", and "worldly", the precise words young people use when they discuss his background.

Obama is going to rock the American electorate like no politician has in decades.

[LizM]

Right...just as soon as he figures out what to do in Iraq.

But, then again...you are probably right on the money. The American electorate, fixated on media-driven celebrity as they are, have long since stopped reaching for the stars and have become quite content to settle for much less than the very best when it comes to political leadership. This presidential campaign has revealed and confirmed nothing about the American electorate - whatever category you want to look at - if not a dangerous lack of judgement.

[SeanGardner]

"...just as soon as he figures out what to do in Iraq."

I don't know what you're talking about. Obama has said that we need to be "as careful getting out, as we were careless going in." That is probably the best line about the reality of Iraq: there are no clear answers. Period. But when you look at the great speech Obama gave in October of 2002, when he pretty much predicted the consequences of the Iraq War, then it is easy to have confidence in Obama's judgment on Iraq. Here is that speech in its entirety: http://www.barackobama.com/2002/10/02/remarks_of_illinois_state_sen.php.

And what do you mean with this line: "The American electorate, fixated on media-driven celebrity as they are, have long since stopped reaching for the stars and have become quite content to settle for much less than the very best when it comes to political leadership." Huh? Did you see that revolutionary campaign that Obama waged? Did you see how in-sync he was with the new media? Did you see those record breaking crowds and eye-popping fundraising?

Obama represents the very best of American politics, and is, quite frankly, a once-in-a-lifetime candidate. His nomination as the Democratic Party represents a healthy, and refreshing sense of judgment.

[Gma11]

I think the same thing.

My kids, grandkids, and students are puzzled by the "categories" my generation persists in seeing the world through. And most are inspired by Obama.

It's been a long time since I've seen youth and younger adults politically inspired - and engaged. We need this so very badly.

Unfortunately, they are going to have to deal the messes the boomers have left them.

[LizM]

And, unfortunately...the messes that have been left for them are beyond the understanding and capabilities of the political leaders these young people, and the rest of the electorate, have put their faith in. Perhaps, one day when its not too late, they will all learn how to recognize real leadership and the capacity to make real change happen.

You'll excuse me if I don't wait for that with bated breath.

[ORSunshine]

Thank you for sharing this perspective. People seem to be so focused on the Boomers, but the young voters are more involved and are really excited about Obama for the reasons you point to. I personally liked Edwards best -- to me he had the best plans and more experience (but I'm one of those younger people who pays way too much attention to details). But I'm happy that Obama has won, and I do think that the young voters played a large part, stretching across the buckets that the media and pundits want to divide this country into.

[Thorn]

No interest in spelling "millennials" correctly? Really? Okay then. Carry on.

[libbygirl]

I'm a boomer but I am ready to pass the torch to the younger generations. Just as it was hard for my husband to retire and turn over his company to a younger man, it will be hard for our older generations to believe that we don't know everything. My husband kept fighting the ideas for change that his younger partner kept pushing. He thought that the way he had run the company for 30 years was just fine.....so why change? He didn't want to admit that there might be a new and better way of doing things. He finally decided to retire and sell-out to his younger partner. For the past two years he's watched as the company he started has grown and prospered with the new ideas and technology that he feared. He's happy in retirement but I'm sure he was hoping that the company wouldn't be able to survive without him. Maybe our country is ready for some younger ideas and leadership. Maybe with age we become too set in our ways of doing things and reluctant to see the possibility of change being a good thing. Hopefully Obama and all his young supporters won't have to keep "waiting for the world to change"....as John Mayer's song says....and they can actually get to work and do it. Of course, they will need our help for awhile but I'm rooting for them.

[TankGirlz]

That was awesome libby :)

[LizM]

So, how do you think the millenials would feel about Biden as Vice President With Special Portfolio on Iraq?...just wondering!

[PaulAbrams]

I don't think they would find Biden hard to swallow at all. The "with special portfolio on iraq" part just seems strange. If the message you are conveying is a commitment to get out of Iraq, then that would be a big winner bcz I think everyone credits Biden with strong credentials on that subject.

[LizM]

Strange, yes...but necessary, nevertheless.

The message that I am trying to convey, unsuccessfully as the case may be, is that Biden is the only one on the face of the planet - and that ain't hyperbole! - who intimately understands what is going to be required to end the civil war in Iraq and get US troops out without leaving a failed state in their wake.

Unfortunately, I'm pretty much resigned to the fact that Biden has a snowball's chance in Hell of being asked to share the ticket with Obama, special portfolio or not! And, according to some knowledgeable political prognosticators around here, Obama can win big without him. So, there you go. I'm just hoping a running mate is named sooner rather than later so that I may be mercifully put out of my misery...or someone may have to...you know...shoot me.