And while we’re on the subject of kids - and I suppose I haven’t been contentious enough yet today - I was struck by a line in this item from Ross Douthat, who is probabably one of my favorite conservative writers (in that he’s not of the conservative movement, and is thus apt to wander “off the reservation” when he sees fit). In it, Douthat states the obvious - “The right had the left on the ropes for a long time, but for now, at least, it’s the other way around.” There are a lot of reasons for that; but one of the reasons this may be a more lasting condition than we’ve considered is that you have, now, a “rising generation [which] is having its political views forged in the crucible of the Bush years.”

It’s an interesting point which, accustomed to skirmishing in the here and now, I hadn’t really considered. Kids in high school and college - this, the Bush era, the Iraq war - that’s their frame of reference. And it’s likely to color their views for some time; given that the Iraq war is likely to go on at least until 2008, but in reality much longer (even if a Democrat is elected president), this era will continue to have that formative effect.

That won’t necessarily make them “liberals” in the classic sense; but it is making them less conservative (at least, as we have come to define “conservative” in recent years; maybe more appropriate to say less Republican), as indicated in this poll Douthat points to:

• One-in-five members of Generation Next say they have no religious affiliation or are atheist or agnostic, nearly double the proportion of young people who said that in the late 1980s. And just 4% of Gen Nexters say people in their generation view becoming more spiritual as their most important goal in life.

• In Pew surveys in 2006, nearly half of young people (48%) identified more with the Democratic Party, while just 35% affiliated more with the GOP. This makes Generation Next the least Republican generation.

But again, this doesn’t lead to classic liberalism:

• They are the most likely of any age group to say that automation, the outsourcing of jobs, and the growing number of immigrants have helped and not hurt American workers.

Hardly the way to mollify that union constituency. And, perhaps most troubling:

• Asked about the life goals of those in their age group, most Gen Nexters say their generation’s top goals are fortune and fame. Roughly eight-in-ten say people in their generation think getting rich is either the most important, or second most important, goal in their lives. About half say that becoming famous also is valued highly by fellow Gen Nexters.

Generation Next is all about narcissism, in other words. And that will be reflected in the politics to come, as well.

On several occasions I’ve written here that the old answers, the traditional dichotomy - Republican and Democrats, conservative and liberal - is no longer operative; we are coming to a time when the old labels no longer apply, or are insufficient. It’s as if we’re at this great political crossroads, this place of redefinition. I think a lot of people perceive this, maybe the young most of all. But not only the young. Michael Bloomberg yesterday declared that “The country is in trouble,” that the current crop of presidential candidates is long on calculated rhetoric but short on real answers; I think people feel that. The desire, I think, is for authenticity. But also for fame, or face time? If Barack Obama and Paris Hilton had a child, what would it be like? We may yet find out.

UPDATE: And maybe it looks something like this.