Reagan Still Appeals to Young Americans

On the first anniversary of the passing of President Ronald Reagan, I thought I would share a very well-written essay from today's Houston Chronicle written by Ashley Herzog. Herzog is a 2004 graduate of The Woodlands High School north of Houston and is currently a freshman at Ohio University.

"Since the baby boomers came of age in the 1960s and '70s, the common assumption has been that college students are more liberal than their parents. But for my generation, that's not necessarily true. Although liberals are still the majority, their ranks are thinning. According to The American Freshman survey, 38 percent of college freshmen identified themselves as liberals in 1971; in 2004, only 24 percent did. In comparison, the number of conservative freshmen has jumped from 14 percent to 21 percent in the same time period.

Look closely and you'll notice the subtle signs of this rightward shift. When our parents were in college, students wore black armbands to protest the Vietnam War. Today, you won't see many armbands, but you will see plenty of cars and backpacks adorned with yellow ribbons — a symbol of support for the troops. In the early days of the feminist movement, young women staged dramatic demonstrations in support of abortion rights. And today's girls? The first time I visited the upper floors of my sorority house, I was surprised to see Bush-Cheney campaign posters on several bedroom doors — and one room was nearly wallpapered with them.

What drives the generational turn to the right? One explanation is that, in a post-9/11 nation, 1960s, feel-good liberalism is no longer practical. As young people, my generation witnessed the most devastating attack ever to occur on American soil. It traumatized us. The peacenik vision of Give Peace a Chance and disarming the enemy with love and kindness is a nice dream, but most of us reject it as not only foolish, but potentially deadly. We can't deny the very real threat of terrorism......

.....I often think back to last June, the night Ronald Reagan was buried in California. I was at a sports bar frequented by college students. On a typical night, the place is crowded and noisy, but there was near silence as we watched the burial on the big-screen TVs. As the casket was lowered, I noticed a twentysomething man with tears in his eyes.

"Where are all the Ronald Reagans today?" he asked no one in particular. "I don't even remember him. But I know we won't ever have another president like Reagan." The rest of us nodded knowingly.