# AARP elects the next president? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [March 17, 2008, 4:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aarp-elects-the-next-president/441617 "2008-03-17T04:16:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2008, 4:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aarp-elects-the-next-president/441617/1 "2008-03-17T04:16:32Z")
On Election Day 2008, Obama will be 47 and McCain will be 72. The AARP is considered the most powerful lobby and the baby boomers are pushing retirement age. Can this make a difference in the next election? Will this make a difference in the next election? ---
**Author:** ![susan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/susan/32/17537_2.png) [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2008, 4:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aarp-elects-the-next-president/441617/2 "2008-03-17T04:31:49Z")
I think it depends whom AARP endorses, not the candidates’ ages. I don’t pick a doctor based on her age, but on her expertise. Same goes for presidents. Susan, AARP member ---
**Author:** ![mswas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e99b99/32.png) [@mswas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mswas)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2008, 4:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aarp-elects-the-next-president/441617/3 "2008-03-17T04:35:34Z")
My Grandmother will be voting for Obama like she did in the Primary. ---
**Author:** ![flurb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/51bf81/32.png) [@flurb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flurb)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2008, 4:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aarp-elects-the-next-president/441617/4 "2008-03-17T04:53:16Z")
My understanding is that AARP does not endorse candidates, only policies/legislation. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2008, 5:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aarp-elects-the-next-president/441617/5 "2008-03-17T05:16:34Z")
And a lot of us are quiet about our age, Stealth boomers, so to speak. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2008, 9:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aarp-elects-the-next-president/441617/6 "2008-03-17T09:17:45Z")
[QUOTE=elucidator] Stealth boomers [/QUOTE] Isn’t that an oxymoron? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2008, 12:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aarp-elects-the-next-president/441617/7 "2008-03-17T12:14:49Z")
[QUOTE=Northern Piper] Isn’t that an oxymoron? 😃 [/QUOTE] Not to a submariner. ---
**Author:** ![alphaboi867](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alphaboi867/32/3898_2.png) [@alphaboi867](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alphaboi867)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2008, 2:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aarp-elects-the-next-president/441617/8 "2008-03-18T02:36:34Z")
To be clear, John McCain isn’t actually a baby boomer (having been born _before_ WWII); he’s a member of the Silent Generation. Clinton is the only actually babyboomer running (Obama’s Generation X). ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Moto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9de0a6/32.png) [@Mr.Moto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Moto)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2008, 2:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aarp-elects-the-next-president/441617/9 "2008-03-18T02:43:24Z")
[QUOTE=elucidator] And a lot of us are quiet about our age, Stealth boomers, so to speak. [/QUOTE] You’ve telegraphed it pretty clearly in the past, ya old coot. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2008, 3:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aarp-elects-the-next-president/441617/10 "2008-03-18T03:51:07Z")
The AARP didn’t help Bob Dole, and he was about a hundred and thirty years old when he ran against Clinton. ---
**Author:** ![AskNott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asknott/32/5790_2.png) [@AskNott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AskNott)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2008, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aarp-elects-the-next-president/441617/11 "2008-03-18T20:10:27Z")
I didn’t join AARP when I was first eligible, at age 50. I wasn’t retired yet, for one thing. I joined when they could save me twice my membership fee on a hotel stay. I’m 58, now. AARP’s style is usually not to back candidates. They lobby the ones who got elected to (usually) help old people. If you meant that voters of that age group might tip the balance in this year’s election, it’s possible. We are many, and we vote. I don’t think we vote as a bloc, though.