Hi. This was a very interesting conversation. You were both very thoughtful. However, there were some serious errors in your discussion about age and authenticity.
First, a factual error. The Silent Generation are Gen X's parents. The Silent Generation and Boomers could not be more different. Although they are only a few years apart in age, Joe Biden and Donald Trump are exemplars of the Silent Generation and Boomers. It's one of many differences why Gen X and the Millennials are so different.
Second, parts of your discussion conflated progressivism and age. This is hugely dangerous. You end up supporting people like Seth Moulton, who is anti trans, etc. against Ed Markey one of the most progressive senators. @mollyivins quoted JB Pritzker's chief of staff who said, it's not center or left, it's cave or fight. I add it's not young or old it's cave or fight. You got to that at the end part of your discussion, about showing up. But it was glossed over in the discussion about age.
Third, Ken Martin is 52. Hakeem Jeffries is 55. Chuck Schumer is 74. They are different generations. Again you conflated age with fighting. I don't want a 32 year old Speaker of the House. People need some experience in leadership rolls. I agree that those three are terrible, but that is a problem of the corporatization of the democratic party, which started under Bill Clinton. Corporatization has nothing to do with age. Joe Biden was the least corporate and most pro worker, pro main street president of my life and he is super old.
Finally, you conflated being authentic with connecting with people. Gavin Newsom's viral AI posts are not authentic. They are making fun of Trump. There may be times that Newsom is authentic, but he is certainly from the corporate wing of the democratic party. If the democratic party is going to right itself it must decorporate itself. That has nothing to do with age or authenticity.
I’m GenX and my parents are Boomers. Their parents were silent gen. All of my GenX friends have Boomer parents who, by and large, had kids at a fairly young age.
Strange. All the kids I grew up with had Silent Gen parents. Maybe we had older parents. Though my mother was older and my father was younger and both were Silent Gen, though my father just barely. Maybe I’m older than you are.
I looked up my wives. My current wife is X and her parents were Silent. My second wive is Millennial and her parents are Boomers. My first wife breaks the pattern in my head. She is a Boomer and her parents were Silent.
Really enjoyed this talk! The points about authenticity and connecting across generations was really interesting. I’m so curious: what do others think is the most effective way for older politicians to engage younger voters authentically?
I also want to know what others think about older politicians reaching younger voters. Bernie does it. Markey does it. Can anyone else? Please weigh in.
It's a question of what platform does your younger audience get their information and entertainment (and it is both). Topline, you need to be on TikTok, IG and Podcasts. Now that doesn't mean YOU just performs the popular memes dances, jumping on a trend and will fall flat. Experiment and find the best way to present yourself in that space. Is it clips of you on talkshows and podcasts? Is it info-graphics? Engaging with influencers or partnering with them to be emissaries of your message - which btw don't micro-manage them. Hardest part: you'll need to try a few things and fail before you figure out what is right.
The fact that Bernie and Markey do it is a testament to the fact that they're their authentic self and they're not performing. And they have a history of that being their identity. Older politicians who already have established personas will struggle against their own history if they appear to be performing for the camera.
Hi. This was a very interesting conversation. You were both very thoughtful. However, there were some serious errors in your discussion about age and authenticity.
First, a factual error. The Silent Generation are Gen X's parents. The Silent Generation and Boomers could not be more different. Although they are only a few years apart in age, Joe Biden and Donald Trump are exemplars of the Silent Generation and Boomers. It's one of many differences why Gen X and the Millennials are so different.
Second, parts of your discussion conflated progressivism and age. This is hugely dangerous. You end up supporting people like Seth Moulton, who is anti trans, etc. against Ed Markey one of the most progressive senators. @mollyivins quoted JB Pritzker's chief of staff who said, it's not center or left, it's cave or fight. I add it's not young or old it's cave or fight. You got to that at the end part of your discussion, about showing up. But it was glossed over in the discussion about age.
Third, Ken Martin is 52. Hakeem Jeffries is 55. Chuck Schumer is 74. They are different generations. Again you conflated age with fighting. I don't want a 32 year old Speaker of the House. People need some experience in leadership rolls. I agree that those three are terrible, but that is a problem of the corporatization of the democratic party, which started under Bill Clinton. Corporatization has nothing to do with age. Joe Biden was the least corporate and most pro worker, pro main street president of my life and he is super old.
Finally, you conflated being authentic with connecting with people. Gavin Newsom's viral AI posts are not authentic. They are making fun of Trump. There may be times that Newsom is authentic, but he is certainly from the corporate wing of the democratic party. If the democratic party is going to right itself it must decorporate itself. That has nothing to do with age or authenticity.
I’m GenX and my parents are Boomers. Their parents were silent gen. All of my GenX friends have Boomer parents who, by and large, had kids at a fairly young age.
Strange. All the kids I grew up with had Silent Gen parents. Maybe we had older parents. Though my mother was older and my father was younger and both were Silent Gen, though my father just barely. Maybe I’m older than you are.
I'm 1972 and my parents are 1947.
I am 1969. My parents are 1932 and 1945. My step father is 1938. All my friends' parents are all in their 80s.
I looked up my wives. My current wife is X and her parents were Silent. My second wive is Millennial and her parents are Boomers. My first wife breaks the pattern in my head. She is a Boomer and her parents were Silent.
Really enjoyed this talk! The points about authenticity and connecting across generations was really interesting. I’m so curious: what do others think is the most effective way for older politicians to engage younger voters authentically?
I also want to know what others think about older politicians reaching younger voters. Bernie does it. Markey does it. Can anyone else? Please weigh in.
It's a question of what platform does your younger audience get their information and entertainment (and it is both). Topline, you need to be on TikTok, IG and Podcasts. Now that doesn't mean YOU just performs the popular memes dances, jumping on a trend and will fall flat. Experiment and find the best way to present yourself in that space. Is it clips of you on talkshows and podcasts? Is it info-graphics? Engaging with influencers or partnering with them to be emissaries of your message - which btw don't micro-manage them. Hardest part: you'll need to try a few things and fail before you figure out what is right.
The fact that Bernie and Markey do it is a testament to the fact that they're their authentic self and they're not performing. And they have a history of that being their identity. Older politicians who already have established personas will struggle against their own history if they appear to be performing for the camera.