Early today, Sara Waxman, publisher of DINE Magazine shared a video link of her young grandson Asher, reciting “In Flanders Field.” Asher is perhaps 7 years old, and comes from a family that lost a generation in the Holocaust. He has had a vivid example of what it means to stand for liberty.
Later, my friend Jim sent me another video. He had been in a church all day with his band rehearsing a Christmas concert. They paused at the 11 hour of the 11th day and his young grandson played Taps. It was eloquent. Devon is bi-racial, and he too has learned that democracy comes with a price.
According to Bloomberg News, Vice President Biden owes his historic win to young voters. The news feed quotes research that shows that without voters aged 18 to 29 the results would have looked very different. Circle Research from Tufts University showed margins among young people in Arizona, Georgia, Michigan and Pennsylvania all exceeded his statewide margins of victory — a margin was decisive nationwide.
Bloomberg reports estimates from exit polls. Consider this:
- Biden won first-time voters by 66% to 32%
- Biden won voters aged 18 to 24 (9% of voters) by 67% to 29%
- Biden won voters aged 25 to 29 (7% of voters) by 55% to 42%
- And he won voters aged 30 to 39 (16% of voters) by 52% to 45%
What’s the bottom line in all of us? While the rest of us sat around and wrung our hands, young people were out organizing and rallying for their future. They knew what was at stake. And they weren’t going to leave it to people too concerned about their own security to acknowledge what was at risk.
All too often we deplore the state of young people. Shame on us. They have it in hand. The rest of us should let them get on with it.
