Passing the Torch, or Brainwashed Voters?

Out with the old...
Vanessa Sievers, a 20 year-old Democratic Dartmouth College junior from Hanover NH, ousted 66 year-old Republican Carol Elliott from her office as County Treasurer that she has held for three terms in Grafton Co., NH in the recent November 2008 election. This seems to be following the trend of the Presidential and other political races of the year... is it a sign of the times, that the public is tired of the "Grand Old Party", and looking for new blood to take leadership, or just a fact that young democrats are coming of age to vote?

According to the Grafton County Commissioners website, it is the second largest county, geographically, in the state and ranks fifth in New Hampshire population with over 81,743 residents. The county has a $32,914,095 budget for Fiscal Year 2009 and part of Ms. Sievers new job will be to meet with a 9 member committee and other elected officials on a monthly basis to review the finance reports. She will also be attending other weekly meetings to conduct county business.

Carol Elliott, the losing incumbent, seems to be unhappy about her retirement from the office, telling the Valley News of Lebanon, Sievers is a "teenybopper" student, "It was the brainwashed college kids that made the difference," and "I'm concerned for the citizens of Grafton County."

Sievers told the Associated Press in a phone interview, "She's never met me before," and "She has no idea what I'm like."

The newly elected Vanessa reportedly placed a relatively cheap ad at the Facebook website for her school to let the students know she was running for the office, prompting the statement from Carol Elliott. According to the results posted on the New Hampshire Secretary of State website, Sievers won by a margin of 586 votes, and her Facebook profile shows that Vanessa has 797 friends at the time of this writing, so it very well could have made the difference in the results of her campaign.

Looking at the big picture, all the way from community elections to State and National level, there seems to be a general changing of the guard. Not only from Republican to Democrats, but from the older generation to the younger, and it appears that the torch is not being passed very willingly. The younger generation is going to have to prove itself, although a little leeway for trial and error is necessary and should be allowed, considering that this country is not without problems created by the older generations.