Clinton represents Boomer progress on civil rights and social attitudes, which she did not create, and for which she sacrificed nothing in the vicinity of her ambitions. She is the candidate of putting faith in “the system” over the long term. It enriched her friends, who, in turn, enriched her. Trump is the candidate for a Boomer coalition that thinks the system is rigged against them, and who have a nostalgia for an era in which they could confidently bully others, whether about their race, or disco, or the bond market.

One common Boomer belief that connects their candidacies is that tragedy is not a feature of any life, but a personal insult to them for which someone owes them compensation, with punitive damages awarded in this life. Success doesn’t just retreat, we are cheated of it by betrayers. Time and chance do not act on us in strange, unsettling ways. Instead, there is a conspiracy against our type of person.

Trump is a Boomer having fun in his old age, maybe the time of his life. Whatever damage he is doing to the country, to his party, or to his family name in history is beside the point. The Trump electoral phenomenon is merely the latest venture for the Trump brand. That many Trump ventures end in disaster or lawsuits doesn’t distract him. Trump seems to admire his children merely for having the good smarts to be born to him. His love of country also seems to spring, like all things, out of self-regard.

Clinton is a Boomer not having fun, and instead seeking the last honor that is owed to her.