Kevin Collins: Politicians must inspire hope

People our age are the great untapped reservoir of new voters. Or at least that's what commentators of every political stripe keep telling us. Yet while many ask why the under-30 crowd doesn't vote, the truth is that political activism and participation vary by generation. Thus, politicians and pundits need to better understand the factors that are shaping our worldview.

On that awful Tuesday in September three years ago, I was a high school senior, and as such, I am part of the September 11 Generation. Now, don't mistake my meaning; people my age by no means own September 11. That day belongs to those who died and the others who still mourn their loss, and in another sense, September 11 is a tragedy for all America. But if our parents were children of the Cold War whose perceptions were shaped by watching Edward R. Murrow weepingly announce President Kennedy's death on television, by praying that school desks would protect them from nuclear holocaust, and by fighting in or demonstrating against war in southeast Asia, then seeing two skyscrapers draped in smoke and fire crumble to the ground will surely have the same effect on us.

Liberal, conservative, and apathetic alike, on that day most Americans would have done anything President Bush had asked. But no civic sacrifice was asked of greater than a trip to the mall, and while we complied (after all, we're talking about teens and twentysomethings), we felt a longing for something more. Then came the Iraq war. Whether you supported or opposed the conflict, mass political responses unlike anything seen in this country since the Vietnam War provided an outlet for this frustration. While American democracy would hardly benefit if leaders based their policy on the demands of the mob, the way the President so determinedly ignored voices of dissent left many feeling profoundly powerless. If the shock and sadness of September 11 made it a Kennedy assassination for our generation, we've also had our Gulf of Tonkin resolution.

Of course, political and cultural movements like MTV's Rock the Vote and the Hip Hop Summit Action Network have tried to encourage political consciousness and voter registration. But musicians and movie stars telling us to vote is simply not enough. Our generation is the one that will be most affected by fiscal policies that endanger the future of Medicare and Social Security and environmental policies that determine the safety of our future air and water. More than a few soldiers fighting and dying in Iraq are my age, and it is our generation that will suffer if foreign policy creates a new generation of terrorists bent on America's destruction. Simply put, Hollywood style without Washington substance will only reinforce a creeping cynicism.

But while star-driven politics are inadequate on their own, sometimes musicians do capture the sentiment of their generation. In "Anthem Pt. 2," Blink-182 sings, "Everything has fallen to pieces, Earth is dying help me Jesus. We need guidance, we've been misled, young and hostile, but not stupid. Corporate leaders, politicians, kids can't vote, adults elect them ..." Shakespeare they're not, but the song has a point. While when it was written, I was one of those kids who couldn't vote, I now can, and I'm hardly alone. Yet despite this new-found ability, many of my peers still feel the same sense of powerlessness expressed in the lyrics.

Youth involvement in the political process is not a question of knowing about the upcoming election. After all, we do watch The Daily Show. It's not a question of believing that politics matter for our nation, present and future. September 11 and what has followed convinced many of us of that too. Instead, it's a question of believing that we matter to the politicians. President Kennedy was right: it is what we can do for our country. It's about hope and believing that we can change things for the better.

To the surprise of most political observers and to the encouragement of those seeking grater youth turn out, the Iowa caucuses showed a 23 percent increase in under 30-voters. While this failed to translate into a lasting trend, the importance of hope to youth political involvement may well explain the blip in youth participation in Iowa. Moreover, in the primaries the Howard Dean movement (in many ways much more than a campaign) thrived on the belief held by its supporters that they were making a difference.

The irony is that hope has long been recognized as centrally important when crafting a political message aimed at adults. This is what George H.W. Bush meant by "the vision thing" and why Bill Clinton's handlers termed him "the Man from Hope." But as we are still young and impressionable, hope matters much more to us. Some of us are already dedicated politicos, but our generation as a whole will get involved only when we are provided a better reasons than musicians and movie stars simply telling them to, or even worse, than one candidate simply bashing the other one. The politics of hope are far more powerful that the politics of cool or the practice of smears.

Generation X was a long ago diagnosed with a cynical, postmodern malaise. Whether or not that reputation is deserved, the September 11 Generation offers a new opportunity for political leaders to inspire youth to greater possibilities. So my message to this year's candidates is this: Challenge us. We're ready.

Kevin Collins is a junior political science major from Milwaukee, Wis., and ediorial page editor of The Summer Pennsylvanian.

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