Thought Theater

While it's difficult to measure the meaning of any single election, there is reason to believe that the 2008 election has the potential to be a transformational one...not just in terms of political affiliations but with regards to the tenor of political discourse, the importance of the middle class, and the latent racism that has continued to percolate in the background for many years.

I've been looking for the means to depict the significance and the importance of this election is simple terms...and I think I've found two videos that achieve that goal. In the first video, we witness a few McCain supporters exposing their racial animus towards Barack Obama...blatant in some instances and cloaked in code words with others. What is clear is that race will be the deciding factor for some segment of voters in 2008.

When that happens, the real issues that should determine one's vote are ignored and rational debate and dialogue have little, if any, influence. When this exists, it provides an opportunity for those politicos who would rather win elections than advance the issues necessary to benefit the nation. Hence, the politics of division (the past)...which has been the hallmark of the GOP for a number of years...is seemingly on trial in this election.

In the second video, "Generation WE" stakes its claim to the future. They argue that the size of the "Millennials" (those 95 million Americans born between 1978 and 2000) will make them the largest generation in this country since the "Baby Boomers"...and therefore grants them the power to remake this nation.

While it's impossible to generalize the make-up and mindset of any generation, there is reason to believe that this generation will be a counterbalancing reaction to the excesses of those that preceded them...making it more tolerant, more environmentally conscious, more engaged, and more interested in putting an end to the politics of division.

Returning to the significance of this election, one could argue that the election of Barack Obama may be their first salvo in securing their vision of the future. If they succeed in making that happen, the course of this country could be forever altered. Given the troubling tenor and tone of those who continue to cling to the past, we must not only hope that change is coming...WE must vote to bring it.