“Obama, who turns 45 on Jan. 17, will be the youngest First Lady since Jacqueline Kennedy in an age in which the media glare has never been stronger, dialing up the degree of public interest in her every move. ”

“She’s referred to as a young woman, but she’s really defining what it is to be middle-aged,” said Marian Salzman. … “Obama is “going to live her 40s under the spotlight of the media.” Obama, who’s already been featured in magazines like Essence, is being celebrated as a modern-day Kennedy for her youthful look, A-line dresses, string of pearls and hair flip.

I’ve spent a lot of time in hospitals over the past two years, both as a patient and a family member, and I think we can also learn lessons about message delivery from how doctors share bad news without embellishment or false promises. My fear about the Inauguration’s “morning after” is that there has been no clinical medical expert sitting us down, warning us of the dire condition, the lifestyle changes and the need to suck it up and admit we will never regain a certain amount of cellular elasticity or emotional verve even if our health—or Uncle Sam’s—rebounds. There are painful truths ahead. When we emerge from the Inaugural festivities—the highly anticipated parade and address and ball—what will our expectations be? The Age of Selfish is over, but are we really ready to tighten our own belts, reset our own priorities and change our own lifestyles for the long term?

As Baby Boomers lose their authority and appeal, generational power is shifting one notch down: to Cuspers (born roughly 1954-1965), who arrived in style in 2008 with their first truly major figure, Barack Obama (born 1961).

George W. Bush, born in 1946 at the start of the postwar baby boom for which his generation is named, will leave office with the lowest approval ratings since Nixon was president. As Thomas Friedman has written, Bush epitomizes what’s now seen as “The Greediest Generation.”

Who’s to blame for the economy going into serious decline? The short and easy answer is: Greedy Boomers. This is the generation that knew better than their cautious, fuddy-duddy parents, the generation that protested, that had ideals and marched to the beat of defiant music (“Street Fighting Man,” “We want the world and we want it now,” “Hope I die before I get old”). It’s the generation that pursued pleasure, proclaimed “I can have it all” and refused to grow old (“50 is the new 30,” etc.). And now, after years of taking credit for changing the world, Baby Boomers are taking the rap for the reversal of fortune that’s shaking the world.

Whatever history may decide, today’s commentators and pundits of all ages have decided that Boomers—the dominant cohort in many developed countries—are guilty. And whether or not they’re really to blame, what counts is that they look like they are. Their profile fits. Like a big-name Hollywood director who’s lived on the edge too long, caused one too many scandals and made one too many turkeys, suddenly the Boomers are the generation nobody wants to be associated with.

Cuspers, the age cohort that has been living in the shadow of the Boomers, now have even more reasons to stake out their own separate identity and values. It’s taken a long time for this rising demographic to be recognized as a distinct generation in its own right. They’ve been called Late Boomers because they were missed the formative Boomer experiences of the ’60s, such as civil rights and anti-war protests. They’ve been called Tweeners or Cuspers because they straddle the divide between Boomers and Gen X. American social commentator Jonathan Pontell has worked hard to establish their identity as Generation Jones.

There’s still debate about whether Cuspers are even a generation apart from Boomers and where the generational boundaries lie. But those arguments miss the key point, which is that Americans want change. In Obama, they see the hopeful prospect of a new generation taking over. And in these dark days, they’re hoping against hope that his generation can usher in new, better values to guide the nation. His victory has variously been portrayed as the end of Vietnam War politics (heroes vs. draft dodgers, etc.) and of the 1960s “culture wars” in which ideology counted for more than competence.

About half of those Obama has named to major posts in the new administration are also Cuspers (including the proposed energy czar, education secretary, treasury secretary and UN ambassador), and the generation may have another poster child if Caroline Kennedy (born 1957) is named to the New York Senate seat that Hillary Clinton is expected to vacate.

Obama himself has made it clear he thinks in terms of generational difference. He’s spoken of carrying on the work of the Moses generation (the Martin Luther King generation), whose successors he’s referred to as the Joshua generation. His activists rallied under the banner of Generation Obama , and his campaign’s ability to mobilize the youth vote proved decisive in his victory.

Whether we call them Cuspers, Generation Jones or Generation Obama, there are enigmas and paradoxes within this generation and its fans. They respond to Biblical imagery, but they’re not dogmatic in their faith. They value traditional notions of family but see men and women as equals in parenting. They hark back to older American values (civility, community, responsibility) yet keenly embrace technology and use the Internet naturally.

In fact, embracing digital technology is one of the telling dividers between Boomers and Cuspers. It’s no coincidence that leading-edge Cuspers such as Bill Gates, Steve Jobs and Tim-Berners Lee (all born in 1955) helped create the digital universe that Cuspers and younger generations now inhabit as a matter of course. (It’s also telling that Gates and wife Melinda, also a Cusper, are the parents of philanthro-capitalism.)

For marketers and brand specialists, Cuspers are a fast-emerging challenger brand that’s fascinating to watch as it defines itself and attracts brand fans. The brand attributes that were once seen as disadvantages—living in the shadow of Boomers, a lack of major formative experiences, no “heroic” narrative—have turned out to be advantages as the Boomer brand loses its sheen. The Cusper brand can define itself by what it’s not: greedy, selfish, confrontational, hung up on past battles.

The Cusper generation is as much an ideal as it is a demographic cohort, and that appeal extends well beyond the birth years that define it. Watch out for Tweets that proclaim “Ich bin ein Cusper.”