Free Republic

Michael Moore on Reagan voters: They're dying By: Patrick Gavin December 13, 2012 09:16 AM EST Michael Moore thinks the country is getting better — “I’m very optimistic about the future” — he says, and what explains that? Reagan voters are dying. In a discussion on Current TV about Sheldon Adelson on Wednesday, Moore told host Jennifer Granholm, “Adelson and all those people will be gone, just like the people who voted for Reagan, the older generation that was really behind Reagan.” “If you were 55 or 60 years old in 1980 when Reagan ran, you’re dead now,” said Moore....

Nowhere is the fallout from Obama’s healthcare proposals more evident than among the elderly, and nothing is more dangerous permanently for the Democratic Party than their increasing disaffection. A Wall Street Journal poll taken last week reflects a gain by Republicans in party identification, closing the gap from 40-33 in April in favor of the Democrats to a Democratic margin of only 35-34. The data reflects that one-third of this six-point closure of the partisan gap comes from a major shift among the elderly — the only demographic group to have moved dramatically. In April, the elderly broke evenly on...

Washington Now, it’s all about the seniors. In a presidential race that is marching daily – but not irreversibly – toward the election of Democrat Barack Obama, Republican John McCain unveiled proposals Tuesday aimed foremost at benefiting older Americans hit hard by the gyrations of the stock market.Seniors represent a critical voting bloc in states that Senator McCain has to hold onto to win the election – including Florida, Ohio, and Indiana – and that have been moving toward Senator Obama. Senior citizens are also crucial in blue states such as Wisconsin and Pennsylvania, where Obama now has double-digit leads...

The most important voters in close races are the ones that candidates can count on to show up on Election Day – and seniors may just become the new "soccer moms" in this presidential election. Older Americans have the highest turnout rate of any age group – 69 percent in 2004. And they'll wield clout in this tight presidential contest because a number of the swing states, like Florida, Ohio and Pennsylvania, have a lot of older residents. "Despite the media's focus on the youth vote, the most influential voters in the McCain-Obama matchup are likely to have some gray...

With most Americans doing a lousy job saving for their Golden Years, Barack Obama says the government has to step in. The presumptive Democratic presidential nominee proposes that companies that don't offer retirement plans be required to set up and automatically enroll employees in IRA-type_accounts. In addition, companies with plans would have to automatically enroll workers in them. Employees, unless they opt out, would have 3% of their salary directly deposited into the retirement account, typically into a low-cost index mutual fund. And the government would match part of the money certain employees contribute. "These steps will put a secure...

Democrat Barack Obama told seniors Sunday that Republican John McCain would threaten the Social Security that they and millions like them depend on because he supports privatizing the program.Obama turned to a bedrock, pocketbook issue as he spoke to about 130 people at an assisted living facility and sought to tie the GOP's presidential nominee-in-waiting to an unpopular President Bush on an issue that motivates seniors."Let me be clear, privatizing Social Security was a bad idea when George W. Bush proposed it, it's a bad idea today," Obama said. "That's why I stood up against this plan in the Senate...

I was shocked and saddened to hear my 80 year old black father say he thought Rev. Jeremiah Wright spoke the truth about America. My dad is a great man. He was one of the first blacks to break the color barrier in the Baltimore Fire Department where he suffered segregation and humiliating treatment. He won Firefighter of the Year two times. Married with four children, he worked full time and attended college. He is a doctor of theology. He authored a book and still pastors numerous churches. He truly believes in love and faith in God. My dad would...

Barack Obama’s difficulty attracting older voters now far exceeds Hillary Rodham Clinton’s own weaknesses with youth. Repeatedly during the tight race for the Democratic presidential nomination, Obama, who’s been defined in part by his popularity among young voters, has seen that strength undercut by his failings with seniors. In the Pennsylvania and Ohio primaries, Obama lost older whites by 30 percentage points, while Clinton split white voters under age 30 in both critical contests. Obama’s senior problem is even greater among Hispanics. The Illinois senator lost older Latinos by 40 to 60 percentage points in Texas, New Mexico and California....

Leta Marshall was pulling for the Grand Old Party in the November elections. Which isn't remarkable until you consider she was born three years before one of the best-known Republicans of the 20th century - Theodore Roosevelt - even took office. "She said, 'I don't know what we're going to do if the Democrats get elected,'æ" said Karen Pritchard, a granddaughter who lives in Sycamore. "So I got her a Bush/Cheney yard sign." Marshall, a lifelong St. Charles resident, died Wednesday at the age of 106. Marshall, who was born on a St. Charles farm, lived in her own home...

Today brings word that the race in FL has become a dead heat, with several commentators noting that Kerry's ad blitz is scaring seniors away from Bush. Kerry has begun a campaign of lies regarding Social Security, frightening seniors with the story that Bush has told private supporters he will begin dismantling Social Security in January, to replace it with a "private system" that will benefit his supporters' investments. The ads reportedly also claim that existing SS payments will be cut as much as 45% by next year. Unfortunately, FL voters seem to be buying the lie. Fox reports the...

WASHINGTON President Bush won't attend the annual convention of the A-A-R-P, although he'll be in Las Vegas at the same time as the group that helped him pass last year's Medicare prescription drug law. Laura Bush will speak to the A-A-R-P, instead. Bush will appear at a campaign rally. John Kerry, who opposed the Medicare law, has accepted an invitation to address the meeting of 25-thousand on Thursday. The attendees represent the group's 35 (m) million members. The A-A-R-P's backing of the controversial Medicare legislation prompted 60-thousand members to resign. Since then, the organization has campaigned for changes, such as...

WASHINGTON, Aug. 11 (UPI) -- Democratic presidential nominee Sen. John Kerry of Massachusetts is asking America's "greatest generation" to help catapult him into the White House this November, wooing them Wednesday with senior-friendly policies on the key issues of healthcare, Social Security and prescription-drug costs. "With rising healthcare costs and a dragging economy, our seniors and families are squeezed like never before," Kerry said in prepared remarks. "Seniors are cutting their pills in half, and we're told the best we can do for them is a Medicare bill that's riddled with waste and handouts to drug companies. We can do...

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) - There weren't many choices to make in Broward County elections last week, but 169 ballots without votes in the Democratic presidential primary are causing some worries. Nearly half of the ballots without primary votes were in precincts with large elderly populations. Democratic Party leaders are concerned it's a sign of trouble for November. At the rate seen in Tuesday's primary, about 4,000 ballots would go without votes in the general election in a Democratic stronghold beset by election problems since the 2000 presidential election. "That's a frightening statistic," Mitch Ceasar, chairman of the county's Democratic...

Here's the deal: If you're over 50, for just $12.50 a year, AARP will give you a magazine and newsletter subscription, as well as allow you to "receive discounts on car rentals, lodging, cruises" and a host of other wonderful things. And at the same time, it will argue for your most vital political interests in Washington. You're a Republican? Democrat? Anarchist? It doesn't matter; it knows what you want. At AARP, one lobby fits all. The character of the group formerly known as the American Association of Retired Persons is once again of significant interest after AARP on Oct....

<p>"It will take an extraordinary united all-people's front with a movement on the ground to defeat the Bush right-wing agenda in 2004," declares the online manifesto. "It can be done with the combination of the labor vote, the women's vote, and African-American and Latino vote, combined with the youth vote, the peace vote, the environmental vote, the senior vote, the farm vote, etc., all of whom are pledged to work as they never have before."</p>