In a special pre-Inaugural video, Simon reflects on the confluence of forces that led to the election of Barack Obama and the dawning of a new political era. Most notably, Simon highlights three things that have particularly driven the new political age:
1) the emergence of a new governing agenda, and the fact that the challenges we face today are different from those we faced in the 20th century
2) the way media and technology have fundamentally changed the way we communicate, advocate, and organize our politics
3) that our country is going through profound change -- perhaps even the most significant demographic transformation since the first arrivals of Europeans to America in the 15th and 16th centuries. (less info)