As a Gen-Xer, I come by my political cynicism naturally--growing up in the shadow of Watergate and so on. Never got involved in any campaign until last year. Inspired for the first time, I worked countless hours for Obama, signing on as a caucus precinct captain, serving as a delegate to the state convention, and making hundreds of phone calls during the general. Speaking with many others of my age group, also involved for the first time, I found that we all shared in common a dread of the other shoe dropping, what with politicians being politicians.
What kept us going was the sheer unrestrained enthusiasm of the 20-somethings who really believed in this guy's ability to bring about change. I saw this extend to an even younger group in the form of my teen and pre-teen kids who waited in freezing temps for hours to see Obama, joined in registration drives and generally did everything they could here in the heart of McPalin country (Tom Tancredo's former district) to fight for change.
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