4 Responses to “Obama, Voice Of The Grups?”

1. Grumpy Old Man, on May 5th, 2008 at 4:08 pm Said:

   Well, hurrah for Charles Martel, Edith Piaf, Jeanne Moreau and Stefan Grappelli!

   When it comes to Sartre, Althusser, Foucault, Jean Genet and their ilk, I much prefer Ireland.

2. M.Z. Forrest, on May 5th, 2008 at 6:08 pm Said:

   Obama is on the fairly late side of the boomers. The boomer generation was born between 46-64. Obama was born in 61. Obama was still a kid during Vietnam. Heck, Obama didn’t turn 18 until Carter was president. Put another way, Bill Clinton was 15 when Obama was born. I just don’t see Obama being classified as a Boomer hope. I also see no polling evidence of Obama strength in the post 50 crowd.

3. Daniel Larison, on May 5th, 2008 at 6:18 pm Said:

   Of course he doesn’t poll well when running against older rivals. That’s not what I’m saying. Everyone knows that older voters are generally less likely to vote for him–I’m talking about the older voters who do support him. If you look at where Obama’s support is softest, I think you will find that it is among these 30-39 year olds, but that is also one of the groups where he polls best at first. Most Boomers don’t support him, as I said above, but those who do are, like Andersen, absolutely steadfast and zealous. He is the personification of what a certain kind of Boomers, including a lot of journalists, wants in its politicians, or at least he seems to be that. I was trying to get at what unites Obama’s fans across generations, and I think it is the attitude typified by the grup that both younger voters and certain Boomers also embrace.

4. conradg, on May 7th, 2008 at 3:21 am Said:

   This is really pretty funny. I’m 50, so Obama is just three years younger than me. Hardly a youth in my eyes. I took to him even before he announced his candidacy, and I went for him very early on. My college-age sons, however, were for Edwards. It was I who helped convince them that Obama was the man, not the other way around.

   To me, Obama represents what I wanted my fellow boomers to be, but weren’t. He’s what I would have liked Bill Clinton to be, but Bill was so filled with narciissism he couldn’t do it. I was happy to have Clinton when he came along - anything that could keep the Republicans out of power for a while - and while there were plenty of things I liked about him, he was never close to my ideal. There was plenty of scummy things about him, and he couldn’t really accomplish much other than keep the economy pumping. Obama, on the other hand, represents the kind of guy I had always hoped my generation could produce. It doesn’t matter if he’s a few years younger or a few years older, he’s my generation, more than Clinton is certainly. Yes, there’s a bit of wish-fulfillment going on, but it’s got nothing to do with eternal youth. It has more to do with realizing in middle age the dreams I always had as a youth, but thought were out of reach. I had thought I had to compromise and settle for Clintons and their narcissism. When Obama came along I thought, hot damn, I don’t have to compromise anymore. Here’s a guy who represents, geneally speaking, the kind of sensibility I want to see promoted in the world.

   Anyway, thought you might like to know what people of my generation actually feel about Obama. These psychological projections of yours just don’t cut the mustard. I’m not surprised - you’re of a different generation. But don’t imagine that we boomers want to be like you. I’m done being young, and it’s fine with me that I won’t be anymore. We just want our own youthful dreams realized, and Obama seems to us to be the vehicle for that happening, in the political world at least. Thought you might be able to use that observation to set you straight about what people of my age find attractive in Obama.

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