(Generation) X + Y = W

X+Y=W

That should be one of the mantras of the Obama campaign. It is a mathematical equation that will lead to victory in November. During the protracted Democratic primary, pundits had endlessly sliced and diced the electorate up into varying demographic groups, each one seemingly more important than the previous one.

From my perspective, the biggest demographic to watch this fall isn't male versus female, or even black/minority versus white. No, the real political war will be intergenerational. The Obama camp's loyal foot soldiers are those from Generation Y, while McCain can claim the backing of the majority of the Greatest generation. Neither of these group backings should be surprising to anybody.

The biggest fight then, will be for the votes of the middle two generations, the baby boomers and Generation X. Again, dividing these folks up by their age, most polls show Obama with a lead for the Generation X vote, and McCain with a lead for the baby boomers. The intergenerational war between the boomers and Gen X will come to a head in November. These groups have already been clashing for a number of years, particularly in the private sector where boomers have been holding fast to the executive level jobs, while the X'ers have been trying to infiltrate the upper rungs of the corporate ladder.

I believe Obama will win in November by pulling together a broad coalition of Gen Y and X. The Greatest Generation had Truman and Kennedy. The boomers had Clinton. Obama is the voice of the next generations that will lead this country back to greatness.