Obama takes Gen-X approach

Anyone who's been in the workplace in the last decade has heard at least one presentation on the differences between generations. Human resource people across the country preach about work ethic and reward systems in the context of the Greatest Generation, the Baby Boomers, Generation X and the Millennials.

Funny, then, how this issue has received little to no coverage in the presidential race. We have three distinct generations represented in this contest and we might be well-served to apply a little generational theory to it.

While Barack Obama chronologically skirts the line between Boomers and Xers (he was born in 1961), he is clearly running a campaign with a Gen-X mindset. His message of hope and change is in line with the worldview of those 40 and younger who desire a world in which differences in race, gender, religion and social class are transcended by a common vision of progress. His speech on race last week was just another example of how he recalibrates issues so that he can speak to them on his terms. It was a political speech unlike any I've heard in my lifetime.

His view is shaped by his diverse ethnic and geographic backgrounds. It resembles in many ways the non-traditional family situations that have evolved in this country, beginning with Generation X. Homogeneity is no longer the rule, which requires greater degrees of tolerance and acceptance than in generations past. Gen-Xers do not want to be constrained by the old rules. Their reality is different and they desire a culture that reflects that. Similarly, Obama does not want to be constrained by the old rules of politics and he, too, is attempting to break free.

Stay tuned for future posts on how John McCain represents the Greatest Generation and Hillary Clinton is a classic Boomer.