Who RU Voting 4?


Remember, I am a truth seeker. Today, the truth I'm seeking has to do with how our species is evolving in terms of how we communicate with each other and how we get our information. I am also interested in how these truths will have an impact on another truth, which is what our presidential election process will look like in another four years.

If you are one who enjoys the typical presidential voting year antics, debates, and just the overall process, you better lap up every precious drop, every glorious campaign sign, every scathing tv and radio ad, every television debate that go on and on and on and, the whopper, voting election results night, because I can pretty much guarantee you this will be the last year of its kind. In 4 years, it's going to be a whole new world and reality, with the Millenialls in the forefront, forcing a much-needed change in this process that will be revolutionary.

In four years, if a candidate's platform can't be summed up in a couple text messages or cyberized in some way, they are going to be in big trouble. What a candidate's platform is will almost be as important as how they are delivering it. I see today's 16-20 year-olds walking with their heads down, looking at their cell phones either waiting for new text message or text messaging someone. Even pairs of friends at the mall walk side by side, speaking not a word to one another as they each monitor the activity of their cell phones or ipods. When I take a step back and look at how presidential candidates have typically gotten their word out in the past and imagine that process in the future, it's almost laughable. Candidates getting on a plane or bus and visiting Smalltown, USA, hitting town halls, visiting the local McDonald's and shaking hands and kissing babies, going to city council meetings, city rallies, even making appearances on MTV or the Tyra Banks show is just not going to cut it.

Now, I'm not a cynical person, and I'm not trying to be funny or crass in any way here, but I am trying to get your attention because I feel passionately about what I'm writing about. I read on the internet the other day that a "recent study" revealed that Millennials (born between 1982-2000) get most of their information through magazines. Folks, when I read that, I thought I was going to fall out of my chair from laughing so hard. That survey had to be done for a print medium client. These people are never...NEVER without their cell phones, if they are reading, it's usually a book they need to read for one of their classes. To a Millennial, a library is an historical place of interest they might visit while on vacation for a trip down nostalgic lane. "FAST" is every Millennial's middle name, and almost all of them have these tiny white wires growing out of their ears, so tell me how am I supposed to believe that with all the sources of information available to these people, they prefer a magazine to them all? My 6-year-old's school fundraiser this year is to sell magazine subscriptions and overpriced popcorn. Need I say more?

The Millennials are moving at light speed, not just because they want to, but because they have to. This generation cannot afford to stop unless they know it's worth their time. The Millennials clearly have a passion for their personal future, this world's future, politics, our world economy, the war and foreign relations, but I don't think they will be as patient as previous generations (as they shouldn't) by sitting through hours of pointless television debates that turn into name-calling matches, for they will only sense a disconnect from the entire process. This disconnect might as well be the size of the Grand Canyon if Gen Xers and Baby Boomers, the parents of the Millennials, don't keep up their pace, diligently talk frankly and face to face with Millennials, and for goodness sake, get down to business as quickly as possible with the Millennials. Oh, and forget trying to outsmart or lay a guilt trip on the Millennials, like "You really need to vote just because it's the right thing to do," because it won't work. Besides, they will probably be annoyed that they can't text message their vote in...you know...like on American Idol, yo!

I don't watch a lot of TV or listen to the radio for my news because it's not pure and it's not fast enough even for me. I'm 40 with 2 kids and don't have time to sit through an hour-long news show with annoying commercials, bad anchor jokes, the sports scores that I don't give a hoot about, and seventeen Doppler radar screens of what my weather MIGHT look like tomorrow. If I could talk to the tv stations, I'd say, "I got 5 minutes, and 38 seconds...GO!" Now, if I feel this way, imagine how an 13-year-old who has just had the pleasure of being introduced toalgebra feels, or the18-year-old taking on his first year at college feels, or a 24-year-old trying to make sure she has taken all the necessary classes in order to graduate from college feels about wasting precious hours on watching the news or flipping through a magazine that's 75% ads?

Millennials are on the search for the quickest facts possible on a variety of topics on a daily basis. If it's too cumbersome or junked up, they will find another way. One of those ways is in chatrooms. A lot people are making up their minds, or perhaps just beginning to form their opinions about the upcoming election and candidates in the cyber versions of Starbucks coffee houses. Login...download...logout. Done.

I admire the Millennials for so many reasons. Generally speaking, and from my observations, it seems they don't put up with fluff, they have a "BS" detector that is sophisticated and sensitive, they care passionately about their future and their children's future, they don't take no for an answer, they know a "line" when they are being fed one, they are not afraid to come right out and ask tough questions, they move like line backers to get things done, they know they are our upcoming leaders and take this responsibility seriously, they work hard and play hard too, and they won't let someone else's poor choices or lack of initiative or responsibility undo all their hard work. These are the people who any of us would want leading us into the next decade. Question is, will they let us share the ride if they think we are holding them back?