Ultimately, however, this election could be a sign that the next decade will be dominated by Xer voters and leaders.
The next presidential election could be between the two clans who continue to dominate American political life: Hillary Clinton v Jeb Bush, the wife of one president v the son and brother of two more.
In an election season that could well be dominated by the issue of corporate abuses, Mr. Simon has found it more difficult than he might have imagined to run on his credentials as an executive of his family's investment firm.
Next spring's Hungarian elections promise to be dominated by a person not on the ballot: George Soros.
This time, with a European agenda dominated by Brexit, migration debates and the rise of populist parties, all sides have suggested the elections could be the most important for many years.
This general election will not only be dominated by domestic issues, but also by EU questions.
But there were signs on Wednesday that other members of the council were still backing the original plan, in part because Ayatollah Sistani's call for direct elections could mean the new Iraqi government would be dominated by Shiites, a fear among many Sunni Arabs and Kurds.
He explained: "This election, unlike general elections, is dominated by personalities.
For the next five weeks, newspapers, current affairs magazines and TV channels will be dominated by election coverage.
That will be dominated, as in most elections, by more humdrum concerns.
