The DU myth that seniors vote Republican.

[upaloopa]

There are a lot of myths here at DU that have a hard time dying. One is that seniors vote Republican. In spite of all of the posts by seniors like me who have never voted republican in our lives and in spite of all we report about our senior friends who vote Democratic all the time, some here just won't listen.

I think there is a need for that meme in some people's lives. Well here is a sight with a lot of data on senior voting in 2012.

http://www.kff.org/kaiserpolls/upload/8372.pdf

It looks to me like seniors are evenly divided politically. Sure seniors in the South vote repub but so do younger people in the South.

Anyway look over the data for yourselves.

[BeyondGeography]

1. CNN: Romney holds slight 56-44 lead over Obama with 65+

No clear winner.

[Arkansas Granny]

2. As a 65+ female living in the South, I know as many seniors

that vote for Democrats as I do who vote for Republicans.

[atreides1]

3. This was in October 2012

This is all very interesting, but do you have anything that shows how seniors actually voted?

[djean111]

26. No one knows for sure.

People can say anything they want to an exit poll or a phone call.
In any event, how does taking shots at seniors, TO seniors who actually voted Dem, accomplish anything whatsoever?
It doesn't.
It just really makes me roll my eyes and remember the source. I don't feel defensive, more like WTF.
Credibility problem there.

[CreekDog]

41. seniors voted 56-44 in favor of Romney, according to exit polls

anyone saying otherwise is asking us to take it on faith.

the only data we have says that seniors voting against Obama is not just an opinion, but a reality.

http://www.cnn.com/election/2012/results/race/president

[patrice]

4. I express liberal sentiments, sans the politics, to any seniors I encounter anywhere, they are NOT

as they are being portrayed.

What they are is unaware of the authentic political universe. They are not on the internet hardly at all, except for email and maybe a little facebooking. They're out of it and scared, so they cling to the first thing that looks dominant.

[russspeakeasy]

6. What crap.

[upaloopa]

10. That is such a load of bull crap it makes me wonder how you can come up with such shit. I'm 66 and

the internet has been around almost 20 years so I have been using the web since I was I my early 50's and so have most other seniors.
We used it in our jobs and at home. we just don't turn 60 and forget we ever knew anything.

I know it is comfortable to live in a world of soothing stereotypes but wake the fuck up and smell the coffee!

[Blue_In_AK]

39. I think Patrice is assuming that seniors are all those folks over 85 or so.

I understand that 60 is the new 40 or whatever, which makes me a functional 46, but legally I think I am considered a "senior." I've been using a computer since the early '80s and have been on the Internet for 20 years or so. We're not our grandparents' seniors.

[Lugnut]

15. Really?

Are there any valid stats to back up that assertion? I've been using a computer since the early 90s when I was in my 40s and I had to use DOS commands. My first computer had no hard drive.

[DrDan]

30. oh brother . . . waht a load

[patrice]

5. Seniors are an under-served group in the technological universe. They NEED to be brought into

the mainstream.

[upaloopa]

12. What do you mean? Give some examples.

We have in home plumbing now and we don't need ice in our refrigerators anymore! We listen to music on the wireless and own horseless carriages now.

[DrDan]

31. perhaps if you are referring to the 90+

[djean111]

33. Could you perhaps elucidate for me the exact age group(s) you are talking about?

I am a senior, been a programmer since the early 70's, can't imagine not being on the net,
This is where I earn extra money and get part-time jobs.
I can literally sell something on ebay, get paid instantly, and go have dinner using my debit card, any time I want.
My last little job was doing quality control on a website creation software package.
My contemporaries are busy emailing and facebooking and reading political websites all day (and night) long.
Just what do you mean by seniors?
Because that 65+ thing isn't valid.
(I am typing this on my computer and sending it over the internet thingy to here).

[DrDan]

38. I happen to agree with you - did you mean to respond to me?

I thought the post re seniors was clearly out-of-touch with today's seniors - particularly since most of US have many years experience and education in areas of technology

I only mentioned those in their 90's since they are perhaps reaching the age where the internet offers little to no interest

but for those in 60's and 70's - I would certainly argue that they are technologically literate

[Blue_In_AK]

40. I'm sorry, but what seniors are you referring to?

Even my dad, who passed away in 1995 at the age of 79, knew how to use a computer.

[Jackpine Radical]

7. Here's an interesting little chart I captured from that site.

[Le Taz Hot]

8. Oh, it's "Dump on Seniors" week this week on DU.

There's another post on DU lecturing all of us about how SS was never meant to be a retirement income and it's all our fault if we didn't save enough. 'Course COMPLETELY ignoring that the biggest bank heist in the history of the world was perpetrated on pension funds, savings accounts and real estate values, it's just a whole lot more fun to blame some portion of the population. This week it's seniors. Sometime this week, somewhere on DU will be a post on how old people stink. Count on it.

[RebelOne]

9. It is a myth for sure.

I will be 74 in January. I voted for Obama in 2008 and 2012.

[LWolf]

11. My senior mother

who depends on her SS is a Democrat. She voted for Obama. She does not vote for Republicans.

We'll see how Obama, and our 2 Democratic senators, earn that vote.

[Worried senior]

13. I'm 67, husband 69

we both vote Democrat and yes, we're some of those deadbeats that live on SS and a very small Teamster pension.

[jeff47]

14. It's not a myth.

The myth is thinking people who point this out are saying 100% of seniors vote Republican.

As mentioned in an earlier reply, Romney won among voters 65 or older. That doesn't mean all voters 65 or older voted for him.

As for all the other replies saying "I'm 65+ and every 65+ I know voted for Obama!", well who are you going to spend your time with? Insane dittoheads, or people with similar political leanings?

There's enormous numbers of people who are currently saying "no one I know voted for Obama", just like there were enormous numbers of people who said "no one I know voted for Reagan". All of these are measures of the people you know, not a statistically valid measure of all voters in a particular age bracket.

[AgainsttheCrown]

19. +1

http://www.statisticbrain.com/2012-presidential-voter-support-by-demographic/

According to exit polling he lost the senior vote 38 to 56...

To be more specific- the white senior vote.

[upaloopa]

20. You're grasping at straws. There is no homogeneous

65 vote. Maybe more voted for Romney but that is far from saying seniors vote repug.

[jeff47]

21. Because their hand slipped when they voted?

They didn't notice the "R" by the name?

Again, 65+ voted for Romney doesn't mean all 65+ voted for Romney. Continuing to cry "No! We're special" doesn't change that.

[upaloopa]

23. What is the breakdown percentage? Give me your reference so that I may be as enlightened as you.

[muriel_volestrangler]

25. Romney 56%, Obama 44%

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/elections/2012-exit-poll

More for Romney than any other age group.

[djean111]

35. Oh. a little more than half, a little less than half. Gosh. I was expecting 80-20.

And my question is - what are proposing here? What is your point?
Or is it just senior day in the barrel?

[muriel_volestrangler]

36. The point is that seniors showed a distinct preference for Romney

which the OP claims isn't there. But it is. Just a bit of data to counter the incorrect opinion, that's all. If it's "senior day in the barrel", then blame the thread starter for making the incorrect claim.

[CreekDog]

43. by your standard, white voters didn't favor Romney

even though they voted at about the same rate for Romney as Seniors did.

[upaloopa]

44. 56% is hardly "seniors" it's 56% of those who bothered to vote. Say there are 100 million seniors

just a made up number and 50% voted and little over half voted for Romney. That's 1/4 of seniors voted for Romney. Hardly saying anything definitive about seniors!

[cthulu2016]

22. No shit... there is no homogeneous 65+ vote

And nobody said there was.

But guess what?

Seniors are a Republican demographic.

No contradiction.

Deal with reality. Don't get upset about imaginary slights and non-existent problems.

[upaloopa]

24. Where is the information you are using?

[djean111]

28. Is there some sort of point to all this?

Really, it is almost like a precursor to saying seniors shouldn't be allowed to vote or something.

[jeff47]

37. The point is to respond to the OP

Who seemed to think as long as one person 65+ voted for Obama, you can't say "Seniors voted for Romney".

If this all seems massively asinine, take it up with the OP.

[appleannie1]

16. Gee, according to some here I am an alien life form. I am almost

70, white and female. Hubby is 76. We live in rural America, are pro union and not only vote Democratic, we work for campaigns. I am on the internet daily and we watch MSNBC every evening.

[life long demo]

34. Thank you Appleannie1

I saw me in your post. I'll be 70 this month. I've never ever voted for a republican. I campaigned for our President in 2008 and 2012. I thank God for the internet every day. Wished we had it in the 60's and 70's. I also depend on SS for daily life. And I am getting more liberal the older I get or maybe just getting back to my views when I was in my 20's and 30's.

[Starry Messenger]

17. My mom is 68 and gets more left every year.

She was even talking half-seriously about going to demonstrations with me.

Income, with some demographic intersections that can create exceptions, is the largest factor in voting Republican.

http://m.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2012/11/does-your-wage-predict-your-vote/264541/

[appleannie1]

18. With the Evangelic crowd they have been brainwashed to believe the

GOP are God's chosen leaders. Apparently money can buy most things. Even faith.

[djean111]

27. Maybe it will occur to senior-bashers that referring to seniors AS A HOMOGENOUS GROUP

is, well, stupid and off-putting and unproductive. At least at this website, which has lots of seniors.
Do you expect all of us Dem seniors to off ourselves or whatever?
Do you expect us say, oh, well, then, I will quietly starve to death and hope the ones who vote GOP do too?
I don't know any seniors personally who vote GOP, but I know lots of younger white people who do.
Lots of religious right who do.
You should see the member list on a Tea Party Meet-Up site.
Mostly younger people who are convinced seniors who need their SS should be euthanized, seems to me.

I think it would be more clever to analyze senior voting by income or religious bent or something, really.
In any event, the seniors are bad meme is getting tedious and accomplishes nothing.
Well, maybe us old Dems should start thinking about which party trashes us..........

[Fumesucker]

29. Is there *any* group that doesn't get treated as homogeneous on DU?

I certainly can't think of one.

[djean111]

32. emo-progs? :-)

Seriously, I am not sure what the point of labeling all seniors as GOP voters is.
What is expected to happen?
Should we try and buy all GOP seniors (hopefully they wear some sort of identifying wrist band or something) laptops and internet access?

[Blue_In_AK]

42. I guess that makes me an emo-prog senior.

We must be some special class of awful.

[HiPointDem]

45. there's also the DU myth that poor people and uneducated people are more likely to vote republican.

I think that shows that DU has an upper middle-class college educated bias.