Chris Matthews said that the millennials better get out and vote
If they don't want to see another Bull Run.
Said this at the end of his discussion of our Virginia Governor's race. Matthews is obviously taking sides. 
= new reply since forum marked as read
I guess some do. The ones I know never talk about the Civil War. Some, of late, have been talking about statues of Civil War notables.
I assume he is referring to the First Battle of Bull Run. Two poorly trained and commanded armies met and the Union retreated. If the North had made haste to engage the Confederates before they got reinforcements the Union Army would likely have won the battle.
It was the first battle in a war. The battle winner was not the eventual war winner. Would the Union winning have shortened the war?
Now I'm confused. Analogies do that to me sometimes. 
I'm a bit tongue in cheek here.
I thought about that reference addressing millennials too. An average Millennial would not have much of an idea what he was talking about. And he probably knows that millennials do not make up a large portion of his audience.
What happened at Bull Run was the public wasn't taking the South's succession seriously. People thought it was going to be a picnic and the battle would just be like some sporting spectacle. They came to watch and were shocked. This is probably the analogy Chris Matthews had in mind. The majority of Millennials aren't taking any of this seriously.
The Battle of Bull Run: The End of Illusions
Both North and South expected victory to be glorious and quick, but the first major battle signaled the long and deadly war to come.
Scores of high-spirited civilians carried picnic baskets and champagne to the battlefield to watch what would turn out to be the first major land engagement of the Civil War.
http://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/the-battle-of-bull-run-the-end-of-illusions-17525927/#D3PjQ5qfb7D7jzMW.99
image: https://thumbs-prod.si-cdn.com/9tp90Xz_N7VLBI_a4COlcyQp1pc=/420x240/
Bull Run Battlefield
http://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/the-battle-of-bull-run-the-end-of-illusions-17525927/#5qVL4tlOyGmv8HGk.99
My son is a millennial who does take this very seriously but one of his former college roommates does not. This ex-roomie goes to work, collects his paycheck, goes home and spends his free time playing video games! His attitude is that politics is beneath him and has nothing to do with his life. And this self- absorbed man has a PhD in computer science!
Such is the life of too many.
