Michael Barone had a good article yesterday on the Boomer Wars and their impact on the 2008 election.

For the past 15 years, our politics has been a civil war between two halves of the baby boom generation (generally taken to include those born between 1946 and 1964). We have had two presidents who were born in 1946 and graduated from high school in the class of 1964, which had the highest test scores in history.

Both those presidents happened to have personal characteristics that people on the opposite sides of the culture war absolutely loathe. We first saw the acrimony of the boomer civil war in the 1992 vice presidential debate between Dan Quayle (born 1947) and Al Gore (born 1948). We see it in the hate-filled reactions to Bill Clinton and George W. Bush. And we are tired of it. Most voters would like to move on to something new.

I agree that voters are decidedly tired of the partisan acrimony and part of Obama's appeal is the pitch that he is the candidate to change the nasty tone in Washington, particularly in comparison to Clinton.

Here is an interesting email on the politics of the boomers from a reader in New Hampshire.

My brother is a true baby-boomer, born in September after my dad came home from the war for Christmas. I was born in 1949. And I really don't consider anyone born after about 1955 to be a "boomer" because they missed a lot of what I'm going to bring to your attention.

My brother went to Vietnam VOLUNTARILY, in 1966, the year before I went off to college. He went for the exact same reasons that my dad volunteered to go to Europe with The Greatest Generation, and we were all so proud of him.

Four years later, in 1970, America was shooting students on my college campus, Kent State University.

By this time, even his friends were trying to find ways to get out of serving. There was a huge divide about whether it was worth it, between those who now thought Vietnam was a mistake and those who didn't want it to go down as part of America's first lost war.

Richard Nixon was able to garner support for Vietnam as long as he was President. But his leaving in disgrace was also a disgrace to my brother, because Nixon was the "pro-war" candidate. And Nixon not having the opportunity to lead us out of Vietnam was really a disaster for the conclusion of the history of Vietnam (in my opinion). We instead had to deal with the reality of Watergate and a corrupt government here at home.

Vietnam is the basis of the problems between true boomers (about 1945, 46, 47, 48) and their siblings (about 1949, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55).

"Boomers" born outside that SIBLING range have simply fallen on one side or the other of the Boomer War. And, yes, there IS a war.

Like I said, I could write a book about this, so these thoughts just skim the surface. But thanks for bringing up the topic.

I think the Iraq War -- so much like the Vietnam War, on so many levels (good and bad) -- is either going to finally blow us all up or finally get it all settled. Personally, I think Iraq is Bush's Vietnam and, just like Lyndon Johnson, nothing else will ever be said of his Presidency except his failure in Iraq.

The next president will either blow it up or we will start coming home. And if Democrats win in 2008, I think the younger siblings will have finally "won" the unwinnable Vietnam War and put it behind us, just as we will be the ones who will also put Iraq behind us for the nation.

Richard Nixon was unable to have the same chance to do that for Vietnam, or else I think he would have gone down as a much better President than Lyndon Johnson.

In my opinion, a big part of the boomer war is that younger boomers, because of having to make their "adult" opinions about Vietnam in the later (not the former) years, are more willing to admit mistakes and cut our losses. They refuse to wallow in propaganda while people are dying needlessly.

My brother, I assure you, is the complete opposite. He loves rah-rah, and he fears for our future if we don't win in Iraq. He would enlist if they would let him, just so Iraq won't go down as a "loss." And he will be voting for McCain.

I, on the other hand, firmly believe that the only thing we have to fear as Americans is fear itself. I am the wife of a Gulf War combat vet who served under C-in-C GHW Bush, a President who WON his Gulf War. I'm about the same age as Senator Clinton, and we'll be voting for her.

So, let the 2008 boomer wars begin!