Articles
Generational
Conventional Wisdom
"The key to waging a
successful presidential
campaign by either
Barack Obama or John
McCain will be their
ability to use their
respective conventions
to overcome generational
tensions. What happens
in Denver and the Twin
Cities could give the
nominees freedom to
embrace the generational
changes that will shape
American politics for
decades to come."
By Morley Winograd
and Michael D. Hais
Politico
August 15, 2008
August birthdays
highlight McCain-Obama
generational split
"Obama will be 47 on
Aug. 4. McCain will be
72 on Aug. 29. Their
25-year gap, and the
questions it inherently
raises about experience
and vitality, is part of
a powerful generational
subtext of the 2008
campaign. This is the
first presidential
contest to substantially
involve the emerging
'millennials,' a
generation that some
political and social
scientists predict will
be the most politically
active and powerful of
any since the 'GI
Generation' that won
World War II."
By
Chuck Raasch
USA Today
July 27, 2008
McCain, Obama and the
Millennial Generation
"Yes, McCain is a war
hero and an honorable
public servant. But
emphasizing those
qualities in broad
generational terms—i.e.,
"traditional" values vs.
whatever came
next—doesn't make for
particularly good
politics. It's the "when
I was your age" dilemma.
Besides reminding
America that the senator
belongs to a bygone era,
such a strategy
implicitly belittles
anyone younger than the
candidate himself. And
as McCain knows all too
well, that category
happens to include the
vast majority of
voters."
By Andrew Romano
Newsweek
July 17, 2008
Academic Achievers revel
in politics
The top students at
Portland-area high
schools are
plugged into national
issues
"Unlike the
inward-looking Gen X
grads of a decade ago
who have shown
record-low voter
participation, this
year's scholars are part
of a civic-minded,
all-hands-on-deck
generation hungry to
take part in politics
and government. At high
schools from West Linn
to Vancouver, the
overwhelming majority of
valedictorians report
they follow the
presidential campaign
closely, plan to cast
ballots and will try to
sway others. These newly
minted voters say
they're counting on the
next administration to
move past partisanship
and make real headway on
the economy, the
environment,
immigration, Iraq and
other issues of concern
to them."
By Betsy Hammond
The Oregonian
June 5, 2008
Looking at the Obama
generation
"If you don't know what
makes these folks tick,
you had better learn.
They're not only the
most diverse generation
in U.S. history; 40
percent of them are
people of color. They're
also the largest,
numbering roughly 100
million. By the sure
strength of their
numbers, the Millennials
will leave their mark."
By Ruben Navarette
San
Diego Union Tribune
May 18, 2008
Party Like It’s 2008
"For five years
boomers have been
asking, “Why are the
kids not in the streets
screaming about the war
the way we were?” The
simple answer: no draft.
But as Morley Winograd
and Michael D. Hais show
in “Millennial
Makeover,” their book
about the post-1982
American generation,
that energy has been
plowed into quieter
social activism and
grand-scale social
networking, often linked
on the same Web page.
The millennials’
bottom-up digital
superstructure was there
to be mined, for an
amalgam of political
organizing, fund-raising
and fun, and Mr. Obama’s
camp knew how to work
it. The part of the
press that can’t tell
the difference between
Facebook and, say, AOL,
was too busy salivating
over the Clintons’
vintage 1990s roster of
fat-cat donors to hear
the major earthquake
rumbling underground."
By Frank Rich
New York Times
May 11, 2008
Young voters, new
outlook
An emerging
generation is more
politically connected
than ever
"Millennials are
constantly in touch with
one another; their
everyday tools are
laptops, cell phones and
BlackBerries. They
communicate via e-mail,
instant messages, text
messages, Facebook and
MySpace. Obama tapped
into this network
earlier and more
effectively than his
presidential rivals,
Democratic Sen. Hillary
Clinton and Republican
Sen. John McCain."
By Joe Hallett
The Columbus Dispatch
May 4, 2008
New players
Millennial
Generation making itself
known
"There's something
going on here, and for
those who want to figure
out what it is, there's
a well-timed book by
Morley Winograd and
Michael Hais,
“Millennial Makeover:
MySpace, YouTube and the
Future of American
Politics.” The authors
argue that the
Millennials are just
waking up politically
and that they're going
to have a profound
effect on presidential
elections for many years
to come. Millennials are
going to force
politicians, the
parties, political
strategists and the
media to do something
they're reluctant to do:
Change the way they
think, to make room for
the possibility that
what Millennials believe
should matter. "
Union-Tribune
Editorial
The San Diego
Union-Tribune
April 25, 2008
Bring on the next civic
generation, the
Millennials
"What's different about
today's civic generation
is its diversity. About
40 percent of
Millennials are African
American, Latino, Asian
or of racially mixed
backgrounds. And their
power will overhaul
American life — in
potentially positive,
overdue ways. Think of
Millennials as Harry
Potter and his spunky,
effective friends,
taking on seemingly
impossible challenges
and succeeding through
teamwork, courage, and a
strong faith in their
collective ability to
improve their society."
By Amber Arellano
The Detroit News
April 21, 2008
"Millennial Generation"
set to rock the vote
"Indeed, said
Winograd and Hais,
younger voters are
increasingly more likely
to question
—
and openly dismiss
—
the old rules of the
"gotcha" politics game.
Practically born
networking on social
sites like Facebook and
MySpace, "their attitude
regarding the media is,
'Who anointed them the
experts?' " said Hais,
who is credited with
identifying the power of
"wired" tech workers in
his research as a
marketing executive. "
'I'd rather pay
attention to my friends
online, and we'll decide
what we think.' "
By Carla Marinucci
San Francisco Chronicle
SFGate.com
April 20, 2008
Uncle Sam Pays? Sure,
Whatever
"Polls show the
economy as the top issue
for voters, far ahead of
Iraq. The general
assumption is that this
helps the Democrats,
since the Republicans
hold the White House and
economic growth has
stalled on their watch.
But what do voters want
done about the economy?
And how amenable are
they to the
big-government programs
Democrats are
proposing?"
By Michael Barone
RealClearPolitics.com
April 12, 2008
Politics May Never Be
the Same
"Messrs. Winograd and
Hais believe that the
Millennials could spark
a political realignment
and that they have
already revolutionized
campaign and
fund-raising techniques
in ways that may
reverberate for years to
come. I think they're on
to something important.
While I don't agree with
every point in their
analysis, I think that
"Millennial Makeover"
will be read with
pleasure by Democrats
and should be read with
careful, worried
attention by
Republicans."
By Michael Barone
The Wall Street Journal
Young voters may not
remember McCain's heroic
past
By Elaine C. Kamarck
Newsday
Obama brings Millennials
to the polls
Younger generations
have turned out in
record numbers for the
2008 primary. Is it the
historic nature of the
election or the message
of Barack Obama?
By Kayla Klein,
iMPrint Magazine
Millennial Indicators
Who I’ll be
watching in the next
exit poll.
By Michael Barone
National Review
March 22, 2008
A New Campaign Trail
As the
presidential race heats
up, Facebook becomes its
own state
By Tina Chadha
New York Metro
March 17, 2008
Requires Adobe Reader
Hold Tight to Your
Smartphones, The
Millennial Revolution is
at Hand
A new book with Michigan
ties tells who's winning
the hearts and
minds of this young,
politics-changing voting
bloc.
by Jean B. Eggemeyer
Dome Magazine
March 16, 2008
Democrats risk losing a
generation
By Ron Dzwonkowski
Detroit Free Press
March 16, 2008
The Grand Old White
Party Confronts Obama
By Frank Rich
New York Times
Op-ed
February 17, 2008
The
Boomers Had Their Day.
Make Way for the
Millennials
By Morley Winograd and
Michael D. Hais
Washington
Post
Op-ed
February 3, 2008