Welmer

One of the great, unexplored factors at play in this election is the rise of Generation X’s political power and activity. It is unexplored because boomers are probably the most self-centered generation in the history of the United States, and they can’t imagine that their influence is anything but paramount. Take this AP article on white boomer women’s “prized” role for example. Hillary Clinton, watching from the sidelines, might disagree.

Generation X is just starting to show its political side, and it does not look much like the boomers’ at all. The two candidates that excited GenXers the most were Ron Paul on the right and Barack Obama on the left. Neocons and boomer liberals like the Clintons are generally disliked, if not outright detested by adults under the age of 45 or so. The surprisingly resilient campaign of Ron Paul was a direct result of younger adults’ disenchantment with the prevailing norms, but Paul was denigrated and rejected as a fringe cadidate by his own party, whereas Obama, who is a bit more of an insider, was shielded to a degree by a political correctness that demanded he be treated respectfully and taken seriously. So Obama has emerged as the first GenX candidate.

The characteristics of the GenX political animal have emerged in the campaign, and they are a far cry from boomer political activism. Except for a few sappy, weird stunts pulled by boomer grandparents with their grandkids, Obama’s campaign pays only lip service to the universalism that so beguiles the boomer psyche. In fact, it has taken on a downright nasty form as the final week approaches, hitting McCain and Palin in their pressure points with one focused blow after another. McCain is portrayed as a psychotic warmonger in cahoots with the same gang of crooks who fooled us into a war with Iraq. Palin, for her part, is cast as that vapid bitch of a prom queen we all hated back in the 1980s.

Generation X grew up in a cold, dark place, under the overwhelming shadow of the massive baby boom. We were spoon-fed platitudes about love, harmony and equality, and then came of age during a time of unprecedented violence, as cities across the nation became gangland war zones. It was a strange, conflicting message we received, as we tried to digest counterculture 1960s utopianism even as apocalyptic paranoia crept into the public’s consciousness. This left us with little sense of purpose and a deep cynicism about the causes our parents enthusiastically supported in their free, idealistic youth. Also, relatively speaking, we have been poorer than the boomers ever were. College costs skyrocketed and wages stagnated as we entered adulthood. Our options were reduced to following the repeated economic surges created by boomer speculation, which has finally, it seems, culminated in the massive financial failure of recent months.

Now GenXers are emerging from the shadow. And it is no coincidence that this is happening as the edifice of boomer greed and selfishness is crumbling before our eyes into ruin. We’ve learned to speak the language of the boomers, and with Obama Generation X has found their achilles’ heel. Deep in the hearts of people of my generation, there is a hope that Obama really will engage in redistribution and punish the old gang that created the mess America finds itself in. It isn’t just right vs. left; think of the attacks that sank Hillary Clinton’s campaign. This is undeclared generational warfare — undeclared because GenXers do not broadcast their intentions and take the center stage like boomers. We’ve always despised boomers’ self-righteous grandstanding. Most GenXers work from hidden places, never grabbing the spotlight, supporting their candidate through merciless surprise attacks on the opponent. McCain doesn’t know how to deal with this, and this is largely because his campaign lacks real support from younger adults. It must be his worst nightmare, kind of like flying a plane and facing not just one formidable opponent, but a swarm of missiles coming from all directions.

This is the new kind of politics we’ll see for some time: hidden intentions, contempt for chivalry, and calculated appeals and attacks rather than genuine universalist sappiness. The goal for the next four years will be the disenfranchisement of the aging boomers, and if Obama is elected and doesn’t follow through on that, he will find his current supporters turning on him with the same hard tactics that beat down his opponents. We are witnessing a paradigm shift in American politics and society as boomers, who will never willingly pass on the reins, are suddenly finding them pried out from their fingers by a determined, pissed-off, and surprisingly strong younger demographic.