10 April: long article in Sunday Independent newspaper about lost generation between Baby Boomers and Generation X named Generation Jones which they say will be the key to general election......."They decided the US election for George Bush, now they have Britain's political future in their hands. New research published for the first time by The Independent on Sunday today suggests that the election will be decided by people born between 1954 and 1965." I'm so accustomed to reading about gender and racial differences; are different age groups so different in the way they vote in elections?

I thought it was Team Bush who decide the outcome of the elections...

Every right wing shithead in the US wants credit for that one.

I don't think it's Team Bush that won it, but rather King Karl (Rove); difficult to overestimate his importance in that election. I read a piece yesterday about Rove deciding about a month or so before election day that they needed to target Catholics, women, and Generation Jonesers more than they had, and that he later attributed victory to this decision. I suppose if you were a Catholic Generation Jones woman living in a swing state a month before that election, you wouldn't have much time for anything in your life because you'd be so busy fending off the parade of persuaders from the Bush camp. Laugh we might, but it's King Karl that's laughing last and loudest...

I must say, I am very politically active and read reams on the subject and I have never heard the Generation Jones analogy.

Must be a British thing.

Not something I've not come across over here Barbara.

Any other Brit prepared to put their hand up?

yes, i'm a brit, and i have run across the generation jones thing before, there were a bunch of feature articles about it in the autumn here, i remember reading a long one in the Financial Times, and another one in, i think, the Telegarph, but i don't think it's a british thing, it looks like its very well known in the states, where i think it started, i did a little research on this yesterday, and see that a lot has been written about it, i found this page particularly helpful: http://jonathanpontell.com/news.html
but i do think its new here, just starting in the autumn, and i believe its true that connecting jones to uk politics is brand new now with this election...

YES, I READ THAT ARTICLE LAST WEEK AND THE ONE IoS DID THIS WEEK AS WELL----I'D BE CURIOUS TO SEE HOW THIS GENERATION HAS VOTED BEFORE, ANYBODY HAVE ANY IDEA ABOUT THAT?

I got a whole bunch of hits when I googled Generation Jones but really and honestly not a word has penetrated in my little corner of the US. Sounds to me like one of those canned media things. Stuff they write when they're too lazy to do real reporting.

Whateva. We all need to identify with something.

Oh that Generation Jones thing...is that in England too, now? It made an appearance here in the 'States, too...a while back.

I tend to agree with the concept (im of that generation...Billy Bragg would be, too, a bit).

The movie about that era thats probably a good intro is Dazed and Confused, which is about kids a year older than me at that time. "The '70s"

...yet, does this really "cross the pond"? Was "The 70s" the same or similar in the UK as the USA? er....mebbe not? You had "Northern Soul". We did not.


I dont see it as a poltical thing .... more a pop cultural or social thing....which I bet someone is trying to turn into a marketing thing...and its all about marketing nowadays....

I have to respectfully disagree with idea that Generation Jones is a canned media idea or marketing ploy; I see it as organic and real and very relevant in a political context. Yes, it may have been picked up in the beginning by the media in a cultural context, but this generation's unique political behavior has garnered it much well-deserved media attention. I looked quite carefully through the US election numbers, and what I could find of UK political numbers, and it appears obvious that Jonesers (who are 24% of the UK electorate) could swing this 5 May election either way. BBC's Newsnight featured 'Generation Jones impact on 5 May election' as their lead story this past Saturday, and there's been quite a few other mentions in UK press last couple weeks. I think it would be mistake for us to underestimate its potential impact in next two weeks.