Matthew McNey (University of Maryland-Baltimore County) on American Values

Barack Obama gave our generation hope when in 2004 at the Democratic National Convention he recited the words of the Declaration of Independence and then declared that there were no “blue states or red states, but the United States of America.” He struck an important contrast against the weak Democratic presidential candidate; he paved the way for his victory over Senator Hillary Clinton four years later and his general election landslide.

Obama’s bold rhetoric defied what seemed to be a growing sense of lethargy caused by the Bush administration’s incompetency and the Democratic opposition’s complacency. Obama’s 2008 victory was a clear repudiation by my generation of an era where rules were being broken, freedoms were coming under attack and where fear of being sent to wars oversea and dangers at home prevailed.

Obama seemed to be able to transcend the political turmoil as someone that this generation was crying out for; a leader who seemed to so clearly espouse his principles. The 2012 Republican Primary, however, has seen a dramatic realignment as increasingly the 18-24 age group has overwhelmingly supported Representative Ron Paul. This phenomena seems to be a result of how Obama has broken the promises he made during his campaign four years ago to restore many of our vital institutions.

Though Ron Paul is on the opposite side of the spectrum of Obama - certainly older than he is and absolutely less eloquent - this generation is ready to embrace him since he has stayed true to his principles while Obama has not. After all it was Obama who invoked the memory of Lincoln in a meeting with College Republicans and Democrats to justify his capitulation to congressional conservatives over the budget ceiling debate explaining that one must forfeit principle to compromise. Ron Paul has stuck to his conviction to constitutional principle that is clearly anathema to the cold calculations of a Harvard intellectual.