Posted on 05/09/2008 10:18:59 AM PDT by The_Republican
The phrase “generation gap” came into vogue in the 1960s as a way of describing the wide gulf in values, beliefs and lifestyles that emerged between baby boomers and their parents and grandparents. Indeed, this difference between younger and older people played out sometimes turbulently in the ’60s in virtually all aspects of life, including the ballot box. Unlike in previous elections, from 1968 to 1980 young voters gave much stronger support to Democratic presidential candidates than did their elders.
But by 1984 those baby boomers were not so young and their ideas were not so different. And until very recently, a political generation gap between younger and older voters was not so great.
The national elections in 2004 and 2006 saw younger people casting more votes for Democratic candidates than did older voters. During the last two years, polls have shown voters ages 18 to 29 aligning themselves with the Democratic party in great numbers. Indeed, they have found their chosen candidate in Barack Obama, who has carried the youth vote in 28 of 32 primary elections where exit polls were taken.
Interestingly, older voters — many of whom supported Democrats over the years — seem reluctant to support Mr. Obama. Hillary Clinton has carried the vote of people over 65 in 26 primary elections. And looking forward to the general election, the national polls now show John McCain running better against Mr. Obama among this older age group — as well as among middle-aged voters and younger voters.
Furthermore, while Barack Obama’s appeal to young people coincides with their greater inclination to support Democrats, older voters do not show a greater allegiance to the Republican party that might explain their current voting intentions.
(Excerpt) Read more at campaignstops.blogs.nytimes.com ...
I call NYT B.S on this. Otherwise, this is the most depressing graph I’ve seen in a long time. Just look at the left side (no pun intended).
Young people are more likely to be minorities as well.
If you took just white voters across the spectrum...I’d be willing to bet that the young are MORE conservative than the old.
When undecided voters ponder the question of “how will the next President choose the SCOTUS judges” Obama will LOSE AT the voting booths.
That’s almost always the case. Young people tend to be more stupid and more Democrat (at the risk of being redundant).
“Interestingly, older voters — many of whom supported Democrats over the years — seem reluctant to support Mr. Obama” ..... and so will everybody else be “reluctant” to support barack mcgovern.
When I was a teenage hippie, the romance of self-righteous poverty appealed to me. A few years teaching highschool on an Indian reservation taught me that there’s nothing romantic about poverty.
Someone wrote that poverty is romantic in your twenties, dull in your thirties, and tragic in your forties. When I was in my thirties I became a homeowner and realized that my little piece of the pie was going to be held up for social welfare schemes which benefitted no one but politicians. Wow, big attitude adjustment.
I’m skeptical this graph measures much more than feelings about Bush for that age group. Kids under 30 only know Bush since their adult lives, and have been drilled by the media/Hollywood that Bush = Hitler.
And I’ll wager that the sample was skewed heavily to urban/leftist areas. I doubt they polled a lot of bible study groups.
Ping list for the discussion of the politics and social (and sometimes nostalgic) aspects that directly effects Generation Reagan / Generation-X (Those born from 1965-1981) including all the spending previous generations are doing that Gen-X and Y will end up paying for.
Freep mail me to be added or dropped. See my home page for details and previous articles.
I’m a GenXer, but I’m toward the younger end; the part that starts skewing to the Democrats. I don’t know how much of that is really generational versus the fact that younger people tend to be more liberal, and that will change over time.
If I ever thought poverty was romantic, my 2 years on the rez killed that for me too.
This data is from registered voters, not likely voters. And the older you are, the more likely you will actually show up to vote.
Advantage: McCain.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.