IMMEDIATE RELEASE 31 October 2026WASHINGTON MERRY-GO-ROUNDToday’s Events in Historical PerspectiveAmerica’s Longest-Running Column, Founded 1932Zoomers expected to “throw the bums out”By Douglas Cohn and Eleanor Clift WASHINGTON – Behold the Zoomers and ignore them at your political peril.Long before them, the Greatest Generation grew up facing a bleak future during the Great Depression, fought World War II, but benefitted from the enormous deficit financing the war cost to live in the post-war period that defined the American Dream: a three-bedroom, two-bathroom, two-car garage suburban house, television, commercial jets, and a GI Bill college education. They had not expected to live better than their parents, but they did in triplicate.Then came their children, the Boomers, the Baby Boomers starting in 1946, who did expect to see a better life than their parents, having benefitted from the post-war boom years their parents were enjoying. Their parents had made the world a better place, even turning German and Japanese foes into democratic trading partners. And with the Kennedy years came idealism that broke down racial, religious, and gender barriers while simultaneously fomenting counterculture and protest movements. After all, Boomers had more time on their hands than their parents had, time that was also put to effective use through inexpensive higher education.So, what happened to the GenZers, those folks born between 1997 and 2012 who are wielding so much political power today? They are the people most likely to determine the nation’s political makeup for decades to come, beginning on November 3, 2026, and they are not a happy lot. Boomers on average bought their starter homes at age 29. Today the number is 41, an age the oldest Zoomer has not even yet attained. And colleges that cost their parents a few hundred dollars a semester now cost many thousands that tack on decades of college debt.This is all playing out at the ballot box. Zoomers cannot afford a home, a marriage, or children, but they are compelled to afford college. Their only bright spot is that many of them stand to inherit some amount of money.According to the Wall Street Journal, they do not trust government or have faith in political parties. They have no expectation of living the American Dream, least of all one better than their parents. Such pessimism is having a positive effect on voter participation, with 74 percent of Zoomers expected to vote, an astounding number that surpasses all other generations in young-adult voting habits, and this is going to have a dramatic effect on the upcoming Midterm Elections as pessimism trumps idealism. It is reminiscent of 1932, when a disillusioned public deep in the throes of the Great Depression believed anything would be better than what they had.The Zoomers are simply fed up, which means they know what they oppose, and their primary objective is to “throw the bums out.” See Eleanor Clift’s book Selecting a President, and Douglas Cohn’s latest books The President’s First Year: The Only School for Presidents Is the Presidency and World War 4: Nine Scenarios (endorsed by seven flag officers).© 2026 U.S. News Syndicate, IncDistributed by U.S. News Syndicate, Inc.END WASHINGTON understated
CandC-31-October-2026.docx