Great article in Newsweek re Obama millenial would-be voters. This adds a little insight into the making of an Obama supporter.
According to Morley Winograd and Michael D. Hais, authors of “Millennial Makeover: MySpace, YouTube, and the Future of American Politics,” millennials “aren’t confrontational or combative, the way Boomers (whose generational mantra was ’Don’t trust anyone over 30’) have been.” Instead, millennials belong to what social scientist William Strauss calls a “civic generation,” drawn to issues of “community, politics and deeds, whereas the boomers focused on issues of self, culture and morals.” Reacting against the excesses of our parents—especially their efforts to advance moral causes through partisan politics—we prefer to address problems by reforming institutions from within. We’re team players, say Winograd and Hais, conditioned through constant social interaction (often online) to “find consensus, ’win-win’ solutions to any problem.”
This feel-good generosity was well on display as a group of Millenial press and bloggers reacted to Hillary Clinton’s willingness to spend two hours answering 34 questions from citizens:
…the reporters in the press pen cracked jokes about her desperation.
The article’s Millennial author, Andrew Romano, confesses:
But the truth is, we’re far more coddled and comfortable than previous generations. Weaned on self-esteem and offered unlimited choice (technology again), we grew up with a sense of entitlement—specifically, for control. And in New Hampshire, it seems, some Democrats heard something like entitlement in Obama’s gauzy pledge to “change Washington.” Untroubled by debt, or joblessness, or unsupportable children, Obama’s millennial fan base (and the older, typically wealthy whites who vote with them) can afford the luxury of privileging process over policy. Clinton, on the other hand, ditches the packaging and goes straight to the product—the plans she’ll fight Republicans to pass. It may not have the same “cool factor” as Obama’s brand, but to Clinton’s base of women, Latinos and downscale Dems, it’s enough to seal the deal.
http://www.newsweek.com/id/109589/page/1