Nate Cohn over at the new York Times explains how young Democratic voters grow older, like Joe Biden, and tend to STAY Democratic voters ….
And?
Older Democratic voters tend to vote MORE than younger voters overalln these days……
It’s usually a given that Republicans will win voters 65 and over, but that’s not the case in this election. Instead, polls show President Biden close or even ahead among seniors, continuing a steady — and overlooked — trend of Democratic gains among older voters.
Mr. Biden’s strength among seniors might be surprising, but the likeliest explanation is deceptively simple: At every stage earlier in their lives, many of today’s seniors voted Democratic. They just got older.
To understand why, consider Archie Bunker, the working-class “lovable bigot” from the 1970s hit sitcom “All in the Family,” and his TV family…
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It’s not unreasonable if Archie is your image of an older voter. As recently as 15 years ago, every single voter over age 65 was born before the end of World War II and came of age before the cultural revolution of the 1960s that shaped the views of many baby boomers voters for a lifetime.
Archie’s generation was the only one that reacted to the 2008 nomination of Barack Obama by shifting right: A higher share of them voted for John McCain in 2008 than for George W. Bush in 2004.
But in 2024, Archie shouldn’t be your image of a senior. Archie would be 100 years old today; his generation, called the Greatest Generation, has almost entirely died. The generation that came after Archie’s — the conservative Silent Generation, who grew up during the popular Eisenhower presidency in the “Leave It to Beaver” 1950s — has mostly died, too. Just 20 percent of the Silent Generation is alive today.
Instead, you may be better off thinking of Michael and Gloria. They are boomers, and they would be in their 70s today.
As a result, today’s seniors bear little resemblance to those from 10 or 15 years ago. Today, Madonna is a senior. So are Ellen DeGeneres and Katie Couric. By Election Day, Magic Johnson will be 65. Even though they may not feel like older voters to you, these boomers are the new seniors.
All together, boomers will make up more than 70 percent of seniors in 2024, up from zero percent when Mr. Obama — himself a baby boomer — won the presidency in 2008.
Boomers have a reputation for being conservative, but they’re more liberal than the voters older than them. The aging of the boomers, along with the dwindling ranks of those even older than the boomers, helps explain the steady Democratic gains among seniors over the last decade…
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In fact, the polls suggest almost every age group under age 50 has shifted to the right since 2012 (although they still lean left overall). Donald J. Trump, for instance, undoubtedly did much better in 2020 among the voters who were 18 to 29 in 2012 than Mr. Romney did among the same cohort. Voter registration data shows the same pattern.
Perhaps surprisingly, Democratic losses among younger voters over the last decade have canceled out the departure of the Archie Bunkers from the electorate, which is one reason the coming presidential election appears to be so close this year….
image….Everyone shown is 65 or older…..NY Times