Barack Obama has maneuvered masterfully atop his wave of young supporters. Early on, pundits loudly doubted that “star power” would metastasize when it came time to cast ballots. Applauding from afar — watching on YouTube or joining a Facebook group — was a far cry from civil participation, they pontificated.
But Generation Y showed its face across the country as primary battles played out. Support didn’t wane at the water’s edge — or hasn’t yet.
It’s likely any Obama victory will owe a great deal to the young and inspired, not only the volunteer backbone of the campaign, but also a generation that turned out en masse to vote for him.
But then what?
I was in South Africa the summer of Live 8, the 2005 concert series most have probably forgotten by now. World headlines heralded the event: “Live 8 puts pressure on G8,” “Live 8: World rocks to save Africa,” “Live 8 a Huge Success as Pressure Builds on G8 to Change the World.”
Banners in London read, “We don’t want your money, we want you.” There was a feeling that enough voices chorused together had the power to change the world. The concerts moved world leaders meeting in Edinburgh, Scotland, to make unprecedented pledges to Africa, put in writing at Tony Blair’s urging.
Less than a year later seven members of the G8 — Blair’s Great Britain included — had already started stepping back from their promises for debt forgiveness and increased aid. Organizer Bob Geldof said: “To the people who are backsliding, I say this: We are not going to give up.”
But Geldof’s “we” had turned into an “I.” He had lost his cadre, formerly a million strong, and with them, the entirety of any soft power he had wielded. Generation Y’s allegiance to the hollowed African faces projected on giant screens around the globe — images that evoked tears between rock and hip-hop sets — had been fleeting at best.
Obama needs to be aware of how quickly this support might evaporate. In the primaries, the young certainly did turn out to support the senator. Voters 18-29 years of age more than doubled their turnout in the 2008 primaries and caucuses. In Iowa the number of young voters jumped 133 percent from counts four years before. In Texas the number of voters from my generation grew 301 percent. The surge, I imagine, will be mirrored when November rolls around — and it may very well carry Obama to a victory.
But his wave, like Geldof’s, can close out quickly. This is a “show me” generation. We have no brand loyalty, no deep-seated devotion. We want things to work, we want them to work now, and — most importantly — we demand that they work fast.
If elected — even with a strong Democratic Congress as projected — Obama will have to work quickly to keep his cadre aligned. Legislation isn’t made from cookie cutters like campaign stump speeches or political retorts. The time required to build meaningful legislation isn’t something many Americans, let alone Gen Y Americans, understand or appreciate.
The brand of politics Obama has preached requires an involved public. It demands a president and population that walk hand in hand, lobbying Congress and countering D.C. interests together, to bring about sensible solutions that defy conventional D.C. gridlock.
Such a politics will be possible only if he keeps supporters enthralled. Without them, he’ll be a young president staring at partisan walls and interests that have grown substantially taller and thicker over the past eight years. In Obama’s politics, hope may energize the young, but it is their energy and action — not the rhetoric or political capital of the figure that inspired them — that can challenge the powers in place.
So far the senator has been more than adept when it comes to maintaining interest — the latest ploy, having the announcement of his vice presidential selection mass text messaged to supporters, being among the most brilliant yet. The media swirl around his trip to the Middle East and Europe; well-timed comments about his iPod’s playlist; an outed e-mail exchange with Scarlett Johansson; a gritty Ludacris rap posted on the Web — it’s all been magic to keep a generation tethered to the Internet immersed in Obamamania.
Sure, Generation Y will come out to vote for Obama; that’s about on par with showing for a free concert. But what will happen if a President Obama can’t deliver results on demand?
Americans haven’t felt this out of touch with the White House since the Nixon years. Fireside chats of the new millennium — be it as presidential podcasts or some other medium — might be the foundation of a plan to keep Generation Y engaged and keep the wave crashing. But Obama should recognize that the politics he has preached will require more than that — perhaps even more than he can offer.
Brian Till is a columnist for Creators Syndicate.
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