In his presidential kickoff, U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio looked to seize the torch from the baby boomers and pass it to Generation X, the generation of Americans born between roughly the middle of the 1960s through the early 1980s.
Republicans generally dont do well at passing the torch from one generation to another. John F. Kennedy was the first member of the Greatest Generation who won World War II to claim the White House, beating Richard Nixon in 1960.
During his iconic inaugural address, Kennedy stressed that generational shift.
Let the word go forth from this time and place, to friend and foe alike, that the torch has been passed to a new generation of Americans -- born in this century, tempered by war, disciplined by a hard and bitter peace, proud of our ancient heritage -- and unwilling to witness or permit the slow undoing of those human rights to which this nation has always been committed, and to which we are committed today at home and around the world, Kennedy said.
Indeed it had been passed. Kennedy was followed by a series of presidents born in the 20th century and mostly shaped by World War II. But the torch was passed again in 1992, when Bill Clinton, born in 1946, a year after the war ended, became the first baby boomer president, beating George H.W. Bush, the youngest Navy pilot who served in World War II.
Rubio is now looking to grasp the torch away from baby boomers, including Clintons wife and Bushs son, a point the Florida senator stressed in his campaign kickoff.
While our people and economy are pushing the boundaries of the 21st century, too many of our leaders and their ideas are stuck in the 20th century, Rubio said. They are busy looking backward, so they do not see how jobs and prosperity today depend on our ability to compete in a global economy. So our leaders put us at a disadvantage by taxing, borrowing and regulating like its 1999. They look for solutions in yesterday, so they dont see that good-paying modern jobs require different skills and more education than the past. They blindly support an outdated higher education system that is too expensive and inaccessible to those who need it most.
Republicans traditionally havent been very good at ushering in a new generation of politicians. Dan Quayle, Bushs vice president, was the first baby boomer on a presidential ticket but his gaffe-filled entrance on the political stage ensured he would not be an agent of generational change. In 2012, former Gov. Mitt Romney, R-Mass., named U.S. Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis., as his running mate, making him the first member of Generation X to be on a national ticket, something the Romney campaign did not play up as much as they should have. There was one Republican who grasped the torch from the previous generation: Theodore Roosevelt who followed a series of Gilded Age presidents whose lives had been shaped greatly by the Civil War, most of whom had fought in it.
Under the Strauss-Howe generational theory, Generation X is classified as a group of nomads who entered young adulthood alienated from society. Certainly, the generation that turned away from hair metal and embraced grunge fits that bill. Even Rubio reflects that to some extent. Over the years, Rubio has sometimes played up his love of rap music, noting his preference for some of the bolder acts of the 1980s like N.W.A. and Public Enemy instead of more mainstream groups. Its telling that one of Rubios favorite films is Quentin Tarantinos Pulp Fiction, a movie certainly in Generation Xs wheelhouse.
Rubio called the 2016 election a generational moment and, if true, thats a bad sign for Democrats. All of the leading Democratic presidential possibilities -- former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Vice President Joe Biden, U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass. -- are baby boomers. Once the torch is passed, voters generally dont return it to the previous generation: just ask Bob Dole. If Rubio or another younger Republican wins, Democrats will be hard-pressed to find new faces.
In the meantime, the generation of youngsters who couldn't figure out the Rubik Cube; wondered for three years if Darth Vader really was Luke Skywalkers father; remembered where they were as news broke about the Challenger disaster; watched too much MTV; adored the "Nightmare on Elm Street" films; mourned the deaths of Kurt Cobain and Tupac; and rooted for Ross and Rachel to get together on Friends is ready to take the political stage -- and Marco Rubio wants to be the first to lead it.
Reach Kevin Derby at kderby@sunshinestatenews.com or follow him on Twitter: @KevinDerbySSN
