The Fantasy Caucus

Many still wonder how and why Barack Obama has managed to find so much success in the world of politics, even outside of his own party. He is a footstep away from an office where, traditionally, the main litmus test for job-worthiness has been experience and a military record. So how is it that a candidate who for all intents and purposes has neither is able to so thoroughly trounce on a candidate who, by the traditional definition, is far more Presidential? I would be remiss to claim that part of it was not due to the decline in Republican popularity due to President Bush or due to the eloquence and “world changing ideas” that Obama possesses, prima facie. While the former certainly explains his popularity during the general campaign, it is unlikely to explain his success during the Democratic primaries, as all candidates represented a marked change from President Bush’s “shoot from the hip” politics. So how is it possible that someone who openly espouses American Socialism could have seen such a sudden rise in popularity, when better funded opponents (Hilary Clinton) typically should have done much better?

I would like to posit that Barack Obama’s success comes not so much from his political skills, but more from the appeal that he has to what I like to consider a growing caucus of American voters. This is a caucus that I would prefer to call “The Fantasy Caucus,” and to me, it is a frightening group of voters with a sharp disconnect from many traditional American values.

The Fantasy Caucus, as I call it, extends beyond mere boundaries of race, gender and class. The Fantasy Caucus is a generational group, composed largely of people aged 18-30, many of whom are voting for only the first, second or third time. This voter caucus features members of the Millenial Generation and the Facebook Generation who, with numbers drastically larger than any before them, are attending college. For these generations, college has become the norm, rather than the exception. And in college, they are finding themselves exposed for four years to an ever growing cast of radically liberal and socialist professors who, for all their talk about free thought, wish only to indoctrinate their students in liberal ideals with no tolerance for cognitive dissonance. They exist in or are coming from a world where homogeneity of thought is the norm. They are taught that social and economic injustice can be overcome only by government fiat, and that they should be eager to embrace feel-good economics.

The Fantasy Caucus is largely sheltered from the pain and burden of the real world. They have few monetary concerns. To them, their education is paid for by applying their signature to a piece of paper at the beginning of their Freshman year, with little thought about the long term ramifications of that signature. Generally, when they have wants and needs, they have parents available to pick up the tab. The automobiles that they use to travel around are generally provided to them. For the Fantasy Caucus, life is less about having to pay bills or worrying about having heat for the winter, because all is provided for them by a faceless institution, their own internal socialist state. They do not have the emotional or fiscal maturity to understand why socialism is unappealing to the majority of people.

Another interesting aspect of the Fantasy Caucus is that to them, the world of politics has been largely dominated by the maligning of President Bush and the Republican Party. They largely remember that life was good under President Clinton, a man who is not all dissimilar from President Bush, but that in the last eight years, there has been a sharp downturn, at least as far as they can comprehend. The Fantasy Caucus shows a large disinterest in history or even in the workings of the government. Appealing to the Fantasy Caucus through the use of names and concepts beyond their years brings the exact opposite effect. They exist only to promulgate and burn out the latest fad.

Their minds are negatively attentive, only able to recall that which they have heard or seen in recent times. They prefer news clips and sound bites over full stories or speeches. Being unable to quickly draw their attention to a point only serves to draw their ire. Their lives are dominated by thirty second youtube clips. They find out how their friends are doing only by checking their status on facebook (less than ten years ago it was AIM or MSM), preferring that instead of long, drawn out communication. The Fantasy Caucus is technologically savvy, but often only insofar as it comes to being able to search on google or text their friends with the computers and cell phones provided by their schools and/or parents, respectively. For Barack Obama to announce his running mate via text message, it showed that he was one of them. To them, a man who cannot use email, whatever the reason, has no right being President.

Even though they have a deep care about social and economic injustice, the Fantasy Caucus is also hyper-materialistic, direly needing to possess the latest piece of technology. This tends to fill them with guilt, since they find it unfair but at the same time satisfying that they have something that others may not. That is why they find such appeal in someone who will “spread the wealth,” because then everyone can share in their materialism.

The Fantasy Caucus is not a group that will necessarily decide an election. However, it is a large voting bloc, and candidates do well to court it, since they possess a drive and spirit, as well as internet know-how, to help get a candidate’s message across. By appealing to this group early, Barack Obama was able to turn the idea that he was inexperienced into the idea that he was “in-touch” and very much “one of them.”