Dubbed "Generation Next," the nation’s millennial generation, all 45.8 million strong, is rapping on the doors of power.
This week the youngest woman in Congress, Hawaii’s Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, 32, joined forces with Illinois Rep. Aaron Schock, also 32, to announce the formation of a new caucus group set to lobby and push for more representation for the millennial generation.
"We collectively feel a great deal of impatience in wanting to actually get results, wanting to actually get things done," said Gabbard on MSNBC’s "The Morning Joe" television news broadcast Wednesday.
Democrat Gabbard said her generation, roughly those born between the early 1980s and the early 2000s, are frustrated by the quagmire of partisan politics in Congress, and it has "an unwillingness to accept ‘no’ for an answer, the status quo or that something can’t be done."
"When I was elected, there were only four members of Congress under the age of 40, and now there are 40 of us," Schock said in the TV discussion.
There is always a temptation to be swayed by something bright, shiny and new. Gabbard and Schock certainly fit the part. They are young, articulate and fit. Gabbard mentioned that they have discussed some of the dividing partisan issues "while working out together."
Neither had specific issues that they thought the new caucus, the Congressional Future Caucus, would address, but millennials represent the largest demographic group in the country, even larger than the baby boomer generation, so it will be a group with its own issues and political power.
"I think the future caucus is not a bad idea. It will provide much-needed support for younger generations to get politically involved, not just as pages but as policy shifters," said Bixby Ho, also in the same generation and the vice chairman of the Oahu Democratic Party.
Add when you were born to the list of political ways of categorizing voters.
"Age-based politics has ever so much more become an issue," Ho said.
Republican state Rep. Beth Fukumoto, former Hawaii GOP chairwoman and a member of the millennial generation, said politics isn’t all about age, but part of it is.
"I don’t think age is as influential on voting habits as ethnicity, gender or party affiliation," Fukumoto said. "That said, I think Tulsi’s right. A lot of elected young people are fed up with government bureaucracy and short-term thinking, just like the public is."
Retired University of Hawaii political scientist Neal Milner, however, urged caution "because so many analyses and predictions about age-based politics have been wrong. Party identification, which very often carries from one generation to the next, remains the key."
The political key to take away from the millennial rise may actually be about how other voting groups feel about them.
Political power may not come from Generation Next voting for itself because older voters, ages 50 and above, tend to be the most reliable and faithful voters.
The key may be the old voting for the new.
Milner noted the anecdotal evidence that when Stanley Chang ran in his first and successful underdog campaign for the City Council, "he made a big impression on the old folks because he reminded them of their grandchildren."
"If voters are looking to change the status quo, they are likely more willing to give younger people a chance," advised Fukumoto.
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Richard Borreca writes on politics on Sundays, Tuesdays and Fridays. Reach him at rborreca@staradvertiser.com.
