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1/ For almost 60 years, two generations have held the American presidency: the Greatest Generation—born in the early 20th century—and Baby Boomers, born after World War II.
2/ This election cycle, Gen X––born between the mid-1960s and 1980––should appear poised for the presidency, with Cory Booker, Beto O’Rourke, and Julián Castro up for election.
3/ But the presidential front-runners so far include three who are roughly Trump’s age—Joe Biden, Bernie Sanders, and Elizabeth Warren—and Pete Buttigieg, a Millennial.
4/ Can Gen X produce a president when sandwiched between two larger and more politically consequential generations?
5/ Even if a Gen Xer doesn't make it to the White House, candidates should temper the hubris of the present to learn from the past, @PeterBeinart argues in our October issue. bit.ly/2AbZjMq
@PeterBeinart 6/ But Gen X is suffering a crisis of confidence, struggling to adapt past policy views to shifting ideological beliefs and alliances.
7/ Case in point: Democrats Julián Castro and Beto O’Rourke, previously for NAFTA, have wavered on the deal in recent years, despite its success, to avoid ideological ostracization.
8/ Kamala Harris has walked back her 2000s-era tough-on-truancy policy as her party has moved left. But the policy worked.
9/ This election cycle, if a Gen Xer doesn’t win, there will be another chance in 2024. But by that time the field may be crowded with Millennials—born between 1981 and 1996—whose ranks include Pete Buttigieg, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Dan Crenshaw, and Matt Gaetz.
10/10 What matters most isn’t whether Gen X produces a president, argues @PeterBeinart. It’s whether it helps America’s next president—whatever his or her generation—learn from the past rather than sneer at it: bit.ly/2AbZjMq
