There it is

 

I was listening to one of the better and more informative pollsters on Fox News last evening talking about the impact of the youth vote on this presidential election. Frank Luntz had assembled groups of young adults on a college campus and probed their reactions to the leading candidates. They were enthusiastically engaged in the political process. They expressed well-informed opinions of the two parties and their candidates. It was interesting, and far more polite and thoughtful than a lot of more seasoned voters’ expressions of political views.

Then Luntz said something to wrap up the segment that grabbed my attention. It was a new observation. He said the youth vote is not only more actively involved than ever before and making a significant difference in this election, but they’re also looking at politics through a different lens unique to their demographic. They’re the generation of divorced parents, and they don’t want anything to do with bickering or negative people.

That’s it. I suddenly recalled a scene late in the film “Juno” in which the lead character (Juno) seriously asks her father if people can stay married anymore, if they can make a commitment to another person and honor it. She asked if fighting and leaving is a necessary fact of married life (which played into the central storyline of the film). She is of the generation that worries about commitments and responsibility, and they’re looking for signs of hope and inspiration that people can rise above themselves for a greater good. They’re looking for harmony and unity, they’re scarred from division, and they’re getting excited about the possibility that they can finally make a difference in their ‘home’, the larger one that is their country.

They were Republicans, Democrats and Independents. And they respect all the candidates, but back the one who inspires the most hope for strong leadership and security on the homefront. That turned out to be a different candidate for different students. Another thing that makes this group unique is that they’re listening for ideas as much as rhetoric, because they know promises are hard to keep.

When this campaign becomes a contest of ideas, it’ll be very interesting to see where these young adults go.