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Product Description
In this provocative and timely first book, twenty-seven-year-old political correspondent Michele Mitchell explores how young people, contrary to popular opinion, are redefining politics. It is the multimillion-dollar question asked by marketing strategists: Who are these people? It is the exasperation of political pundits: Where are they coming from? And, it is the anxiety of older Americans: Where will they lead us? Now, for the first time, these new political party animals are convincingly portrayed. It's impossible to pigeonhole an eighty million-strong group that stretches from trust fund babies to welfare kids, from Daughters of the American Revolution to descendants of slaves and new immigrants, from Berkeley to the Bible Belt, from those raised by both parents to children whose parents are single or divorced. This is a generation in which many grew up as latchkey kids with television as a source of comfort, and a group that says "show me" when offered a promise because of its exposure to marketing and advertising. And because of their independence, young people do not unconditionally offer up loyalty. Plus, they are building their own communities and connecting through the technologies they are creating. Mitchell explores six factors that not only set this generation apart, but are transforming the political world: lack of party affiliation, diverse interest in a range of issues, grassroots-based approaches to problem-solving, lack of gender bias, skepticism of marketing and advertising, and computer savvy. In prose that is entertaining, lively, and fresh, we glimpse the lives of such up-and-comers as Jerry Morrison, in his run for office in Chicago; Kim Alexander of Sacramento, a pioneer in using the Internet to affect politics; Quillie Coath Jr. and Charles McKinney of Durham, North Carolina, propelled into community activism as a means of improving their neighborhoods; and Lynn Marquis, Robert George, and Bob Meagher, who are making changes at ground zero in Washington, D.C. Insightful, succinct, and engaging, A New Kind of Party Animal is our road map to understanding the future of American society and politics.
Amazon.com Review
Americans born between 1961 and 1981 have been given many labels, including "Generation X," "slackers," "apathetic," and "lost." This book, by the youngest person to have written for the New York Times editorial page, overhauls that generational stereotype by looking at Gen-X political activism--an area, she says, in which this generation has been working for change.
Mitchell's narrative weaves together the stories of several of the young and politically gung ho and their runs for political office, voter registration drives, Internet activism, and grassroots community work. What she finds, contrary to media pigeonholing, is an active, informed, computer-literate group unlike any that has gone before. "When it came to politics," she writes, "we said 'show me' when offered a promise. We believed in only what we could see with our own eyes. We demanded accountability. We did not unconditionally offer up our loyalty." As the "18-35s" come into power, the author envisions a generation less interested in party affiliation and slippery candidate promises than in real action and serious issues. Instead of Democrat or Republican, liberal or conservative, she says, "be prepared for variations of 'independent.'" Those seeking clues to where American politics is heading at the end of the century might do well to start their search here. --Maria Dolan
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