"The very instant I became old."
Liz was describing a political conversation she had with her grandmother (who will be voting Republican in November for the first time in her life), and I thought of something that hadn't occured to me before.
It's conventional wisdom that old people have disproportionate political power because of their high turnout compared to other age cohorts. So why has so much ink been spilled over the political impact of the "jobless recovery"? Old people don't work! Some of them have never worked. No amount of unemployment is going to affect their social security checks. The stock market has been doing fairly well, so their portfolios are safe. And Bush just gave them a big fat new entitlement. Is there any economic reason for old people not to vote for Bush?
This is important because all the social issues help Bush amongst the elderly. One of the things that caused Liz's grandmother to become fed up with the Democrats is gay marriage. That issue alone should drive the last few elderly Catholics out of the Democratic party. Bush's religiousity is also a strength with these voters, regardless of affiliation. Several times I have been helping old women find a book about Bush, and they will say something like, "I'm glad we have a Christian in the White House."
This Week is coming on in a few minutes, so I don't have time to look up the numbers on how old people voted last time. I would guess they went narrowly for Gore. But I don't see them going Democratic this time.
Marc
