[Vision2020] The end of Boomerism

[Kai Eiselein, Editor]

Clinton's Defeat: The End of Boomerism As We Know It
By Pollster John Zogby
Watching Tuesday's twists and turns in the Democratic presidential 
nomination contest reminds one of a prize fight where, in the midst of the 
15th and final round, all of a sudden one of the candidates lands a 
knock-out punch. In this political race, of course, it was Barack Obama 
throwing the punch, but he must campaign on knowing his was only a technical 
knock-out over Hillary Clinton.
And no one knows technicalities better than the Clintons.
Obama has-technically-won enough delegates to claim the nomination, but 
Clinton has staggered up off the mat-again-claiming she has enough of what 
it takes to carry on the fight.
Is she punch drunk?
By every practical measurement, the race is (and has been) over, but 
technically, Obama is not the nominee until the delegates gather in Denver 
in August and actually cast their votes. Clinton staggers on, hanging onto 
this nano-thread of justification.
So, as newly-minted presumptive Democratic nominee Barack Obama turns his 
gun sights on the General Election and presumptive Republican nominee John 
McCain, it is appropriate for the rest of us to stop and take a brief look 
back at this epic Democratic battle.
In hindsight, I think the Clinton campaign was really over the day 
once-vaunted Clinton advisor Mark Penn wrote his "inevitability" memo. 
Running with that theme, Hillary herself told several news outlets last 
fall, months before the first ballots were cast, that she was so sure she 
was going to win the nomination that she had never-never-even considered a 
world where she would not.
But that world soon delivered her a shocking double-fisted wake-up call that 
she and her advisors should both have been able to anticipate. First, Iowans 
let her know they do not like to be told who they are going to vote for. 
Second, 68% of Iowa Democrats told us they were angry with the political 
system, in part as demonstrated by such arrogance as was exhibited by 
Clinton's self-claim of "inevitability." While there were victories and 
votes along the way, Clinton could not represent the change that, 
ultimately, voters wanted. She didn't realize-or refused to believe - what 
the nation had long been telling me and other pollsters: that 
Bush-Clinton-Bush-Clinton just was not going to work.
The Clintons are proto-typical Baby Boomers - committed to ideals of peace 
and justice but overwhelmed with themselves. They (we, because I was born in 
1948) are consumed with being the center of attention, the bride and groom 
at every wedding, so much so, that the ends don't simply justify the means, 
they are one and the same. Getting elected is the game, the final goal, the 
definition of self-worth. In his recent book, former White House spokesman 
Scott McClellan decried the mentality of "the permanent campaign" that he 
said permeated the White House of George W. Bush (the other Boomer 
president), which in some respects mirrors the Clinton behavior.
Sad to say, Bill Clinton became best known for the hallmarks of Boomerism - 
self-centeredness and permanent adolescence-as exhibited by the Lewinsky 
affair and all the other, lesser controversies and scandals.
The obsessions and legacy of the Clintons led to what the American voters 
thought was their antidote-the election of Bush, the boy who woke up and 
discovered he was President. Of course, they were wrong.
Bush's exemplification of permanent adolescence could be seen almost 
immediately. The big new story out of the White House in early 2001 was his 
penchant to award everyone with childish nicknames, but there were other 
indications. Then, discussing the threat of Iraq in 2002, Bush said "After 
all, this is the guy who tried to kill my dad."
We soon discovered that loyalty and clubbishness trumped experience and 
judgment, and an inability to admit mistakes destroyed credibility around 
the globe and three decades of Republican prestige in handling foreign 
policy. All the credit that the GOP earned through Richard Nixon's efforts 
with China and Ronald Reagan's tactics to successfully unravel the Soviet 
Union from within has been lost by the inflexible, inward-looking approach 
in dealing with Iraq and, now, Iran.
After 16 years, Americans have finally declared, state by state, caucus by 
caucus, primary by primary, that they have had enough of the Boomer 
generation in the White House.
In the final analysis, Hillary Clinton is smart, charming-and the wrong 
person for the times. Voters have moved beyond Boomerism. Now, Americans 
will choose between an older version of duty, honor, glory, and a return to 
the American Century vs. a new vision of global pluralism, diversity, 
change, and youthful vigor.
Is Boomer Power gone forever? It is impossible right now to say one way or 
the other, but one thing we do know is that it has, at least, suffered a 
serious setback.

Kai Eiselein
Editor, Latah Eagle