# Who will the senior citizens vote for? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [September 28, 2008, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-will-the-senior-citizens-vote-for/465617 "2008-09-28T21:09:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2008, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-will-the-senior-citizens-vote-for/465617/1 "2008-09-28T21:09:59Z")
In the [debate thread,](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=485172) some Dopers pointed out that seniors might be more impressed with Obama’s “nice young man” performance than with McCain’s disdainful won’t-look-him-in-the-eye surliness. Makes me wonder. Who will the seniors vote for? McCain, after all, is one of their own, as it were. Important question because Florida is a great big swing state and we have plenty of retirees here and they vote. ---
**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2008, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-will-the-senior-citizens-vote-for/465617/2 "2008-09-28T21:53:23Z")
They are [trending Obama.](http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601070&sid=an8WDB6dqvfQ&refer=home) > [@](#): > > Sept. 27 (Bloomberg) – John McCain is losing ground with older Americans, a group that consistently has high turnout at the voting booth. > > Barack Obama jumped to a 46-42 percent lead among those 65 and older in the latest Bloomberg/Los Angeles Times poll. That’s an 18 percentage-point swing since mid-August, when the poll showed McCain with a 50-36 percent advantage. ---
**Author:** ![gonzomax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e8c25b/32.png) [@gonzomax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzomax)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2008, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-will-the-senior-citizens-vote-for/465617/3 "2008-09-28T22:27:01Z")
I will vote Obama. I hope they count it. ---
**Author:** ![eleanorigby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee7513/32.png) [@eleanorigby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eleanorigby)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2008, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-will-the-senior-citizens-vote-for/465617/4 "2008-09-28T22:31:58Z")
My dad is 77, almost 78. Obama all the way, baby. (he votes in FL). ---
**Author:** ![Rand\_Rover](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/db5fbb/32.png) [@Rand\_Rover](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rand_Rover)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2008, 2:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-will-the-senior-citizens-vote-for/465617/5 "2008-09-29T02:28:45Z")
> [@gonzomax](#): > > I will vote Obama. I hope they count it. 😕 When has any American’s vote not been counted? ---
**Author:** ![gonzomax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e8c25b/32.png) [@gonzomax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzomax)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2008, 3:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-will-the-senior-citizens-vote-for/465617/6 "2008-09-29T03:21:08Z")
> [@Rand\_Rover](#): > > 😕 When has any American’s vote not been counted? You are kidding right? ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2008, 3:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-will-the-senior-citizens-vote-for/465617/7 "2008-09-29T03:25:51Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > Who will the seniors vote for? Probably the one they see as more likely to keep Social Security secure - to the extent that you can lump them together, that is. For the most part, expect people who’ve generally supported Republicans their whole lives to continue to do so, naturally. > [@](#): > > McCain, after all, is one of their own, as it were. I’ve heard that called a \*negative \*by some Republican-oriented seniors, saying they know they themselves wouldn’t have enough energy to do the job. > [@](#): > > Florida is a great big swing state and we have plenty of retirees here and they vote. 'Tis a pity Claude Pepper has left us. IIRC they used to love the way he’d awake from his naps on the House floor, wave a gnarled old fist, and croak “Leave Social Security alone!” before passing out from the effort. ---
**Author:** ![elelle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f0a364/32.png) [@elelle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elelle)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2008, 3:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-will-the-senior-citizens-vote-for/465617/8 "2008-09-29T03:40:32Z")
My good in-laws, 70, and 75, are for Obama, wholeheartedland astute, watched the debates intently. They pay good attention. The folks I rent from are in their early 80’s; he is a former Ass’t NC State Treasurer, and they are for Obama because of his intelligence. I’ve talked to these good elders about this election, about what they see as important in light of their experience, and they are going with who they see as measured and intelligent. For them, it’s Obama. Palin was the last straw there, too; they see her as being shockingly incompentant. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2008, 5:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-will-the-senior-citizens-vote-for/465617/9 "2008-09-29T05:12:16Z")
I’m 63 and voting for Obama. If my parents were still alive (they’d be 95 now) they’d also be for Obama. And every one of my aunts and uncles, too. ---
**Author:** ![Justin\_Bailey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/justin_bailey/32/8792_2.png) [@Justin\_Bailey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Justin_Bailey)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2008, 7:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-will-the-senior-citizens-vote-for/465617/10 "2008-09-29T07:13:50Z")
> [@Rand\_Rover](#): > > 😕 When has any American’s vote not been counted? gonzomax is a tad, let’s say, paranoid about this election. ---
**Author:** ![Mosier](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ea924/32.png) [@Mosier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mosier)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2008, 7:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-will-the-senior-citizens-vote-for/465617/11 "2008-09-29T07:17:26Z")
All anecdotes aside, have old people voted for a Democrat in the last 30 years? Have old people ever in American history voted for the more liberal candidate? ---
**Author:** ![Zoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/a4c791/32.png) [@Zoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zoe)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2008, 7:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-will-the-senior-citizens-vote-for/465617/12 "2008-09-29T07:28:09Z")
I’m 65, my sister is 70 and our mother is 95. We are solidly for Obama. Most of my older friends are too. But I live in Nashville which is very liberal. Tennessee has been more Conservative in recent years. We are foolish not to support a change in the healthcare system. The World Health Organization rates the United States at approximately 35th place in healthcare. ---
**Author:** ![DMark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@DMark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DMark)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2008, 8:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-will-the-senior-citizens-vote-for/465617/13 "2008-09-29T08:01:41Z")
My aunt is 85 years old and told me she will be voting for a Democrat for President this year, for the first time in her entire life. ---
**Author:** ![Carson\_O\_Genic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/cdc98d/32.png) [@Carson\_O\_Genic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Carson_O_Genic)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2008, 10:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-will-the-senior-citizens-vote-for/465617/14 "2008-09-29T10:51:17Z")
Older voters are like anybody else. Some have herd mentality and will follow the party cradle to grave. What’s interesting about this election is the number of Republicans who are defecting not to swing left but because they feel the ship is going down. People who didn’t think much of J.McC in the beginning and haven’t seen or heard anything to change that and are honest enough to say Palin is a mistake, even if picking her was a brilliant strategy at that stage of the campaign. Take the gender away and you have someone way over their head, besides giving pause to the sagacity of the ostensible executive. ---
**Author:** ![Anduinel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/848f3c/32.png) [@Anduinel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anduinel)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2008, 12:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-will-the-senior-citizens-vote-for/465617/15 "2008-09-29T12:01:31Z")
My in-laws are solidly in their 60’s and voting McCain because of his ex-POW status and because he’s a local boy (and because Obama’s black and liberal). :rolleyes: I’d be a lot more bothered if Arizona going to McCain weren’t a foregone conclusion anyway. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2008, 2:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-will-the-senior-citizens-vote-for/465617/16 "2008-09-29T14:04:22Z")
> [@Rand\_Rover](#): > > 😕 When has any American’s vote not been counted? Assuming that’s not a whoosh, see [here,](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_presidential_election_in_Florida,_2000#Controversial_issues_in_Florida) [here,](http://www.gregpalast.com/something-is-wrong-in-america/) [here,](http://www.gregpalast.com/kerry-won-ohio-rn-just-count-the-ballots-at-the-back-of-the-bus) [here,](http://www.rollingstone.com/news/story/10432334/was_the_2004_election_stolen) [here,](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=483025) [here,](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=279927) [here,](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=277079) and [here,](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=414099) just for starters. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2008, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-will-the-senior-citizens-vote-for/465617/17 "2008-09-29T14:20:59Z")
> [@Mosier](#): > > All anecdotes aside, have old people voted for a Democrat in the last 30 years? Old Jewsih voters have consistently. So have old black voters, I assume. Can’t tell you about other ethnic groups. ---
**Author:** ![vivalostwages](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/d07c76/32.png) [@vivalostwages](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vivalostwages)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2008, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-will-the-senior-citizens-vote-for/465617/18 "2008-09-29T22:40:03Z")
Mom is 82, can’t stand either candidate and might just write in Hillary. If forced to choose, I think she’d go with Obama. ---
**Author:** ![Superfluous\_Parentheses](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8edcca/32.png) [@Superfluous\_Parentheses](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superfluous_Parentheses)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2008, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-will-the-senior-citizens-vote-for/465617/19 "2008-09-29T22:48:33Z")
> [@ElvisL1ves](#): > > Probably the one they see as more likely to keep Social Security secure - to the extent that you can lump them together, that is. For the most part, expect people who’ve generally supported Republicans their whole lives to continue to do so, naturally. Just an anecdote, from an election a couple of years ago here in the Netherlands: Woman in her 70s gets interviewed outside the polling station and asked who she voted for and why: “well I’ve always voted (the fiscally conservative, what’s-good-for-business-is-good-for-the-country party) because we had a good salary, but now I will vote for (the social-democratic party) because now we’re pensioners”. I was genuinely shocked by the brutal “I’ll just vote for what’s good for me right now and I don’t care about the rest” mentality, and her lack of foresight. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2008, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-will-the-senior-citizens-vote-for/465617/20 "2008-09-29T22:52:35Z")
According to [this,](http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/dn/latestnews/stories/091308dnpolseniorvoters.197a9f8.html) McCain has a 13-point lead among voters 65 and older. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-will-the-senior-citizens-vote-for/465617.md?page=2)