You can agree or disagree with his politics or personality, but there’s no denying that Teddy Kennedy was an icon in American politics. His tenure as a senator spanned five decades and gave him countless opportunities to impact American history.

It’s fitting then that his death would serve to exemplify a new change in the course of that history.

Face it, there aren’t that many icons of the ‘50s and ‘60s left. And those that are may not be with us much longer.

The generation that made the Beatles a pop culture sensation, burned its bras in feminist protest and marched against the Vietnam war is slowly but surely ceding its power and a new generation is picking up the reins. Indeed, this transition is already halfway completed.

The No. 1 single on our current president’s 21st birthday wasn’t Elvis or The Doors, but “Eye of the Tiger,” (buoyed undoubtedly by the release of Rocky III a few months earlier).

He was in primary school when a few hundred thousand hippies converged on Woodstock and only 14 years old when the Vietnam War came crashing to a close.

This change in experiences is what defines a generation from the next and what makes the passing of a politician stand for something more — the passing of an era.

Kennedy’s death gives us an opportunity to recognize that although it my seem far off now, soon it will be our turn. Yes, believe it or not, we — the generation that grew up with pogs, trapper-keepers and Britney Spears — will be the next to gain the keys to city hall.

Maybe you haven’t paid much attention to news or politics up until now, but there’s no better time to start.

Ames City Council elections will be held in November. Several area leaders have thrown their hats in the ring, and your vote could be the deciding factor.

While local elections are sometimes ignored, they’re often the most important to our daily lives. After all, it’s the city council that decides everything from what drink specials Campustown bars are allowed to serve to whether or not you have to move your car to the other side of the street every day at 10 p.m.

Then in 2010 come national mid-term elections, in which you’ll be able to decide whether or not Iowa Gov. Chet Culver, Sen. Chuck Grassley and our five representatives get to keep their jobs.

That’s the beauty of democracy. Anyone can vote and anyone can run (aside from a few age and citizenship requirements for specific offices).

So who knows, the galvanizing political icon of our generation could be your friend or your TA or the guy sitting next to you in the Babylon 5 T-shirt. Or it could be you.

But if it is, the time to start is now. Kennedy won his seat in the U. S. Senate in 1962 at the age of 30 and served for 47 years — which means if you were elected today, you’d have to be in the Senate until 2056 to match his record.

It’s a big task, but a necessary one.

If we want a voice for our generation, and if we want political icons of our own, we’re going to have to build them.