Seniors as voters: no longer solid Dem, but more critical of Iraq

[DeepModem Mom]

From LA Times, Ron Brownstein:


The debate over entitlement reform is sharpening as seniors have become an increasingly fluid constituency, less firmly attached to either party and more influenced by the same constellation of values issues that are driving many younger voters.


For 2004, the key lesson from this history may be that far from voting solely on the giant federal programs that so intimately affect their lives — Social Security and Medicare — many seniors are also moved by the broader events shaping any election, from the backlash among cultural conservatives against Bill Clinton in 2000 to homeland security in 2002.

In the Los Angeles Times exit poll in the 2000 presidential race, for instance, as many seniors cited moral values as Social Security as the principal reason for choosing between Gore and Bush. Less than half as many seniors cited prescription drugs as the principal motivation for their vote than either morality or Social Security in that survey.

A Times Poll this month found seniors leaning strongly toward a Democrat over Bush in 2004, largely because the poll shows them to be much more critical of Bush's policies in Iraq than younger Americans


"Both Parties Claim Entitlement from Medicare Package"

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-medicare30nov30,1,1084537.story?coll=la-home-headlines

[cpa]

1. Seniors

How in the world do the seniors or anyone else believe that Republicans are the party of moral values? They have outed a CIA agent for political reasons. The Republican scandals are too numerous to mention here.

[DeepModem Mom]

2. Very good point --

Not only are Republican scandals and political chicanery swept under the rug -- but Dems have the moral high ground on many issues. Wish we could get our message out to the people --