Most Important Election in a Generation?

At the end of Frontline this evening, they promoted their next one, about the election in November. In the spot, they pimp this as the "Most Important Election in a Generation." I'm not certain if it fits that bill. It would seems that as far as generational things go, the Clinton election and re-election would be more significant generationally because both Bush and Dole were of the WWII generation and Clinton was of the Baby Boomers.

Well, what is the significance of that? asks Amber. In terms of outcomes, the significance is debatable. However, the life experiences of people typical to the two generations are far different. This may or may not play into how they approach the world, but the torch has clearly been passed. In this generation, the contention is between people of somewhat different backgrounds, something I'm working on writing about, but is between people of the same generation.

In terms of generational importance, I hope that Frontline is referring to the potential mother lode of Supreme Court appointments. The justices last an outlandishly long time and deeply affect the most important issues of the day. I think the stakes here are the equivalent of wiping out an opponent in Risk for the purpose of taking their cards. Unfortunately, I'm not really certain which candidate makes sense in the long term.

For some issues, such as reproductive rights and legal reforms, the choice is pretty clear: if you want the government deciding if you can get a medical procedure or if you can sue a company that wronged you, vote Bush. On the other hand, government secrecy is a growing and pernicious issue that may be larger than any other. It looks as though the government covering up wrongdoing through official secrecy goes back to the very beginning. The old school constitutionalists also known as conservatives may be a better bet on this issue.