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Susan Boyle, the Newest Voice of "Generation Jones" by Alie James I never cry, but I cry each time I watch Susan Boyle singing, "I've Dreamed a Dream". Recently discovered on Britain's Got Talent, she's an amazing celebrity find for Generation Jones. I'm sure many of you have already viewed her YouTube video, but if not I suggest you do. As for the expression, Generation Jones (GenJones for short), you may not know that this is a newly identified Generation, one which lies between the Baby Boomers and Generation X. Since I'd like to focus on Boyle in this article,...

NEW YORK-When George W. Bush lifts off in his helicopter on Inauguration Day, leaving Washington to make way for Barack Obama, he may not be the only thing disappearing on the horizon. To a number of social analysts, historians, bloggers and ordinary Americans, Jan.20 will symbolize the passing of an entire generation: the baby boomer years.

AS Bill Clinton was the first baby boomer president, Barack Obama could be the first Generation X president. Or, depending on how you figure it, Mr. Obama, born in 1961, could be the third boomer in chief, following Presidents Clinton and Bush. In theory, the candidate Obama belongs in the boom, defined by the Census Bureau as births during the years 1946 to 1964… The generation-spotter Jonathan Pontell, on the other hand, argues the boom began in 1942 and ended in 1953. He places Mr. Obama in “Generation Jones,” a term Mr. Pontell coined to characterize those born during the...

A generational struggle is underway. What's so unusual is it's taking place within a single generation [Obama] represents a new generation of leadership, even though technically he's part of the same generation as Hillary, the baby boomers. Here's where it gets a bit complicated. This tussle pits an Early Boomer vs. a Late Boomer, and the two cohorts have little in common... In the case of boomers—those born between 1946 and 1964—the whole frame is wrong. It's based on birthrates, not common cultural and political affinities... Worse, the Early Boomer sensibility gets all the attention. Five decades of newsmagazine boomer...

...there's a voting cohort between Generation Xers and boomers that bears watching. They're the not-so-young of Generation Jones. If they're not "the lost generation" they're invisible to most of our culture commentators. The Joneses, who were born between 1954 and 1965, are usually included in the boomer cohort, but Jonathan Pontell, a pop culture consultant who coined the name, says that's a mistake. He thinks the Jonesers may be crucial in next week's congressional elections. "Coming of age politically in the late 1970s and early 1980s," he says, "Jonesers were the much discussed 'ReaganYouth,' and is the most conservative U.S....

Finally, I have my own generation — Generation Jones — and it was my generation that handed President Bush a second term. According to Jonathan Pontell, a sociologist and author, a large chunk of Baby Boomers are not Baby Boomers at all. Those of us born between 1954 and 1965 have little in common with the first wave of boomers, but nobody has articulated this fact until recently. When boomers were indulging in drugs and free love, we were doing our homework. While they were driving around in VW Beetles and protesting the Viet Nam war, we were watching The...

During the 2004 presidential campaign, extensive media coverage was focused on all the usual suspects, like women, minority voters and evangelical Christians. But in their typical emphasis of demographic variables like gender, geography, socio-economics and race, the media largely ignored, again, the key issue of age in the electorate. In doing so, they missed out on a major story: history will show that one generation of voters - Generation Jones - provided the decisive vote that re-elected George W. Bush on Nov. 2, 2004. Not that age is ignored completely in politics; every election cycle sees coverage of the well-known...

October 27, 2004 --Since July, 40-49 yr. old (Generation Jones) women have vacillated more than other generations of women between John Kerry and George W. Bush. In October they are also the most evenly divided, favoring Bush by a slight margin of 47% to 46%. This segment also has the highest percentage of undecideds in October, with 5.4% not sure who they'll vote for on Nov. 2. Three of the five generations of women have favored Kerry each month, with only 30-39 yr. olds (Generation X) and 40-49 yr. olds swinging toward Bush in August and September. However, the much-discussed...

1946, 1964 classes don't always agree........ There's a great distance between Barry Manilow and Barry Bonds. Manilow, the singer, was born in 1946, the first year of the postwar baby boom. About 76 million births later, Bonds, the baseball slugger, became one of America's last boomers. That was in 1964, when demographers say the boom ended. Typically, those born within that period are lumped together as the "baby boom generation," as if their values, beliefs and habits are unified. In fact, as the "late-wave boomers" turn 40 this year, it's clear that the classes of 1946 and 1964 are often...