With the oldest Baby Boomers hitting retirement age this year, a changing of the guard in America has officially begun. Next up are the Gen-Xers, of course, but many of them are already in power positions around the world. We're more interested in what comes after they of the 90s ennui and grunge: The Millenials.

In an effort to get ahead of the game, think tank the Brookings Institution put together D.C.'s New Guard, a report about the ideas and attitudes of Millenials, "the generational cohort born from roughly 1980 to 2005." Researchers interviewed 1,000 young people working in Washington, D.C. for a summer about their views on politics, the media, and the world.

Because while the Millenials' time is not now, it will be—perhaps sooner than many of them think.

photo (cc) via Flickr user Mickey van der Stap

Perhaps surprisingly, the division of young people between party affiliations is pretty similar to the division amongst older people. The difference is how that independent bloc swings. Amongst young people, it's more often to the left.
 

Interesting here: A clear conservative reaction to the perceived "liberal bent" of Hollywood. Also, the huge number of Republicans who are willing to allow their religion color their political views should be a reminder that "separation of church and state" is an impossible joke.

This isn't surprising considering the party divisions in the second slide, but look how few people said Sarah Palin was a worthy leader.

The high percentages under "too involved" are a perfect indicator of why the approval rating of our new engagement in Libya polls so poorly. People want more energy spent on domestic matters.

What poor foreign policy has wrought.

Republicans are extremely terrified of terrorism, while Democrats and independents aren't extremely scared of much.

Message to a smart politician: Oil independence is a good platform from which to work.

This is actually quite soothing: Despite their differences of opinion, the vast majority of America's young leaders are interested in both getting an education and serving the nation (in non-militaristic ways). If the government made it a priority to harness that energy, the progress could be remarkable.