Readings
OPINION Wiring in to Gen X- Herald Sun
22/09/2008
BARACK Obama is a new kind of political leader. He is the first Generation X presidential candidate.
The first to tap into the power of internet as something more than a gimmick; and a unifying figure for young voters who support him by a margin of 2-1 over his rival, John McCain.
If Obama loses this election, it won't be for lack of enthusiasm.
The role of young people in the rise of Obama's unlikely candidacy has been widely canvassed, and its implications for Australia are worth exploring.
Apart from a handful of people my age who still join political parties and hand out how-to-vote cards, the consensus appears to be that Generation Y is a political wasteland.
We are said to be too self-centred and short-sighted, too easily distracted and disengaged.
As the focus turned to the female US vice-presidential candidate, Sarah Palin, Australia's first female Governor-General took her oath - a significant moment in the life of our country.
However, the changeover is not likely to impress itself on the lives of young Australians, neither as a cause for celebration nor protest.
Some will point to this as proof that young people like me are complacent, incurious and spoilt -- but they are wrong.
The swearing-in of Quentin Bryce left young people cold because we are not interested in institutions or ceremony, and we perceive her role as being largely a ceremonial institution.
Her ability to connect with younger Australians will depend on the extent to which she shows leadership on the issues that move and matter to us.
While young people shy away from formal involvement in politics, they are passionate about issues and ideas.
As a producer of the Make Poverty History Concert, I witnessed thousands of young Australians join their voices to the cause of ending poverty in the developing world.
Operating completely outside formal political institutions and utilising the computer and the mobile phone as the central organising platforms, Make Poverty History was a pioneer in political advocacy.
It triumphed - a year later, Kevin Rudd was elected on a platform that included its foreign aid agenda.
In the US, it is a similar decentralised, technology-driven model that propels Obama's campaign.
Just as Google was among the first to crack the code of how to generate revenue from the internet, Obama has worked out how to generate political returns online.
Plenty of candidates have had great websites and huge email databases, but it wasn't until Obama's emergence that the internet realised its potential as a campaigning and fundraising tool.
Mybarackobama.com is a social networking site inspired by Facebook and MySpace, and transforms the online experience of a website visitor to that of a fully fledged campaign volunteer.
The website has also served as
the most successful fundraising vehicle in history, generating close
to $450 million from almost two million donors.
The technological and organisational genius of the Obama campaign would mean nothing if it weren't matched by the candidate.
Obama's achievements are built on a political persona uniquely suited for the moment, and especially appealing to young people. Obama is decidedly post-baby boomer.
He opts out of the prolonged ideological knife fights that started on university campuses in the 1960s.
He navigates a new path, shedding predictable Left-Right baggage.
For instance, he simultaneously favours negotiating with Iran, while supporting military intervention in Pakistan to find the remnants of al- Qaida - a hybrid hawk-dove.
He picks through every issue this way - rejecting ideology and crafting commonsense positions.
Gen Y hasn't time for old ideologies and institutions, but embraces issues, solutions and ideas.
Politicians should come to grips with that before they launch a MySpace page or broadcast on YouTube.
Hugh Evans is the founder of the Oaktree Foundation and was the 2004 Young Australian of the Year.
