The Osgood File. I'm
Charles Osgood.
Every forty years or so,
according to the book
"Millennial Makeover:
MySpace, YouTube and the
Future of American
Politics," there is a
generational makeover in
this country, and new
civic era begins. And
we're at that point
right now according to
co-authors Morley
Winograd and Michael
Hais.
SOT: Morley Winograd,
co-author of "Millennial
Makeover"
"The Millennials'
attitudes will change
the tone of American
politics, which will
have to be more about
building the country
than tearing your
opponent down."
SOT: Michael Hais,
co-author of "Millennial
Makeover"
"We are moving into a
different era --- where
there will be different,
more basic, economic and
foreign policy concerns
--- and much less
concern with social
issues of one kind or
another."
Politics has become the
gordian knot that
effectively prevents
either Democrats or
Republicans from doing
very much about anything
important. It's become
politically impossible
to deal with immigration
problems or social
security or
environmental or
terrorist threats, real
as these and other
threats may be. Morley
Winograd.
SOT: Morley Winograd,
co-author of "Millennial
Makeover"
"The Millennials are
very much like those GI
Generation Voters.
They're a Civic
Generation, oriented to
fixing the political
institutions of the
country --- to
addressing the country's
fundamental economic and
foreign policy issues
--- and very
uninterested in the
social issues that
divided the Baby Boomer
Generation, and
therefore the country's
politics, for the last
forty years."
And in this, the major
political parties as we
now know them may be
irrelevant.
SOT: Morley Winograd,
co-author of "Millennial
Makeover"
"Civic Era realignments
are not necessarily
Republican or
Democratic. They occur,
and both parties have to
react to them.
Get used to it, says
Michael Hais.
SOT: Michael Hais,
co-author of "Millennial
Makeover"
"A way a generation
begins to vote and the
rate at which it votes
early on is pretty much
the way it will vote
through its entirety.
Civic generations tend
to vote at high numbers
when they're young ---
and tend to keep that
trend and pattern all
the way through their
lives."
The Osgood File. Charles
Osgood on the CBS Radio
Network.
The Osgood File. April
28th, 2008.
