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Faith, hope and the next generation
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Published: May 25, 2008
E.J. Dionne's commencement speech, delivered on the chilly quad at Wake Forest University Monday morning, was a fine one -- just the right length, just the right blend of the humorous and the serious, just the right balance of praising accomplishments while reminding graduates that their real journey was just beginning.
But fine, well-crafted prose is what you'd expect from Dionne, a syndicated columnist for The Washington Post and one of the nation's leading political commentators. The most compelling thing about his speech was not what he said so much as the absolute conviction -- and optimism -- with which he said it.
Dionne didn't just tell the graduates that they ought to be the country's next "Greatest Generation that transformed a time of period and confusion into an era of reform and renewal." He didn't just tell them that they might be able to be as important and transformational a generation as the one that weathered the Great Depression and won World War II. He told them in no uncertain terms that "I actually believe you'll do it."
You have to hope that Dionne's faith in the generation is justified. The way this year's election plays out could play a crucial role in determining whether these young people go forward into the 21st century with a belief that political engagement really can change things for the better.
I don't know whom Dionne is supporting for president, but his frequent use of the word "hope" and "hopes" sounded a lot like echoes of Sen. Barack Obama.
"You are special because you are daring to hope again," Dionne said. "Do not believe that hope is naïve. If hope for social change and inventiveness were naïve, then the Exodus never would have happened, and the disciples never would have left the upper room. The pilgrims would have stayed home. Our Founders would have paid their tea taxes and saluted the king. The abolitionists would have given up. Eisenhower, Churchill and Roosevelt would have called off D-Day. Rosa Parks would have gone to the back of the bus. If hope were naïve, our air and water would still be dirty, our elderly would lack health insurance, and you'd be communicating with each other by telegraph instead of IM-ing and texting each other…"
Dionne said that he believes this emerging generation has the potential to be a "great reforming" generation because he senses that its members have the necessary ability to "marry their aspirations to service with the possibilities of politics." They already have shown a commendable interest in community service, he noted. Today's young people, he said, can reach the right compromise between the extremes that came before them: They combine the idealism that had 1960s students marching and rioting with the practical concerns of those who came of age in the '80s.
Today's young people, Dionne said, are a bit wary, but they haven't given up on politics. "You have no illusions," he said, "but you do have hopes." And because this generation that has recently had its political coming-of-age has that balance of idealism and practicality, Dionne said, he believes that its members may have what it takes "to restore a faith in public life that began eroding before you were born, in the divisions bred by the Vietnam War and in the ashes of public trust left by the fires of the Watergate scandal."
These young people, he said, just might be able to move the country past the "wreckage" of the "culture wars" and the old prejudices and general disgust with partisan politics as usual.
Such possibilities and hopes --not to mention a staggering need for change -- are what have so many young people excited about this election. Those young people whom Dionne believes can be America's new "greatest generation" have been registering to vote, volunteering, paying attention to the primaries and turning out for campaign events in large numbers. It is heartening to hear them talk excitedly about the candidates, with a sense that who wins really does matter.
This is not to say that all young people support Obama, of course. Certainly there are many Republicans among the emerging generation. I don't believe Dionne meant to exclude them from his optimism; it will take people of both parties willing to work together to find a better way forward. Sen. John McCain's reputation for being a maverick who is willing to work with Democrats may help explain his success in the Republican primaries. And there are enthusiastic young people at Sen. Hillary Clinton's campaign events.
But Obama, with his passionate talk of hope, has fired up a whole lot of first-time voters. I have hope myself, hope that Dionne's confidence in this new generation may be justified. And that's why I believe the worst thing that could happen would be for old-style politics to deny Obama the Democratic nomination if, as seems all but certain, he winds up with the most regular delegates.
Our generation's old politics have brought us to what Dionne aptly called "a time of peril and confusion." If the younger folks can transform that, let's let 'em have at it.
■ Linda Brinson is the Journal's editorial-page editor. She can be reached at lbrinson@wsjournal.com.
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