Who will the senior citizens vote for?

[BrainGlutton]

@Superfluous_Parentheses

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.

I think anyone over 70 can reasonably be excused for a lack of foresight.

[Superfluous_Parentheses]

@BrainGlutton

I think anyone over 70 can reasonably be excused for a lack of foresight.

Well I was assuming she wasn’t over 70 all the elections prior to that

That said, I don’t think it’s an uncommon pattern.

[DSeid]

@BrainGlutton

According to this, McCain has a 13-point lead among voters 65 and older.

Note the dateline - 9/13. The poll I linked is 9/27. A lot has changed in those 2 weeks.

Another source, ARG, places Obama’s lead under and over 50 as the same as of 9/26.

Obama leads McCain 48% to 46% among voters age 18 to 49 (56% of likely voters). Among voters age 50 and older (44% of likely voters),Obama leads 48% to 46%.

[Evil_Captor]

@BrainGlutton

According to this, McCain has a 13-point lead among voters 65 and older.

Generally older people have difficulty learning. And remembering.

[eleanorigby]

@Mosier

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?

Well, someone voted FDR in. I think as you age, you become more like yourself: if you were somewhat conservative, you become more so. Ditto liberal. I have heard that you age, you tend to become more conservative, but I dunno. My dad voted for Goldwater and now is a yellow dog Democrat.

I dislike this whole generalizing about certain population segments. That Newsweek cover pissed me right off: What Women Want. As if we are some monolithic subset of What People Want. :rolleyes: Old people are people–my inlaws are rabidly conservatively GOP. My parents are as rabidly Dem.

[Captain_Amazing]

@Mosier

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?

In 1988, 1992, 1996, and 2000, senior citizens were more likely to vote for the Democratic candidate than the general public, and Clinton and Gore both won a majority of seniors.