What strikes me most about Ann Selzer's poll is that boomers, whose parents were alive during the rise of European fascism, are stepping up and saying, "Not on our watch." Now, maybe the boomers are just trying to protect their 401K's and Social Security, but I don't think that alone can explain why so many white people over 65 are votin…
What strikes me most about Ann Selzer's poll is that boomers, whose parents were alive during the rise of European fascism, are stepping up and saying, "Not on our watch." Now, maybe the boomers are just trying to protect their 401K's and Social Security, but I don't think that alone can explain why so many white people over 65 are voting for a "San Francisco liberal." When Kamala wins, we will owe a huge debt of gratitude to the women of this country and the boomers.
You know it’s interesting. My parents have been diehard republicans my entire life (42). My mom is all that’s left now and she is a Trumper , but the first crack that came in that support was when he came out for Russia when they invaded Ukraine. Ever since the party has been outwardly pro-Russian … that’s the line for her. Not J6, not attacking the press, not assaulting women etc etc etc. but Russia? She remembers the Cold War , and I think that’s all the difference.
As it should be. I’m baffled that people my age (62) don’t draw that same line. We grew up with films on the evils of Communism, the Iron Curtain, the occasional news stories about East Germans getting shot trying to breach the Berlin Wall. Those days are what Putin is seeking to recreate. It’s the Evil Empire, people. WTF.
Agreed. I’ve been making this point too. My dad was in his 40s when I was born, and he served during WWII, as did his friends. One of his buddies steadfastly refused to purchase German made products or even fly in German made commercial planes. As a child, I didn’t understand this. But I gradually learned, through history class, books, and movies what that war was all about and what lessons we all needed to learn from it. Those who are older than I likely got more meaningful first hand information from their elders and learned the same lessons. Especially the women, because they’ve had a sample of being treated as inferior throughout their lives in one setting or another. And how many of their mothers were diligent and serious voters because they knew a time when women were not allowed to vote? Multiple memories at work here for this demographic.
As a boomer, I can vividly remember the 60's and early 70's when so many major social justice battles were fought and won. One of those battles was the removal of the draft...because men had no rights over their own bodies between the ages of 18-25. Fast forward and it's women with no rights over their own bodies, and all those other victories are being eroded away through SCOTUS decisions. We aren't going back.
When I was growing up, we lived in a subdivision that had been built in the early 1950’s. All white, middle class, etc. Every dad on the block, and most of the dads of my friends, were WWII vets. Probably a few Korea vets in there, but it’s hard to describe the cocoon that existed at the time. People who all experienced more or less the same thing at the same time, went on to form families at more or less the same time, bought houses at the same time, watched the same shows, worked at the same few big workplaces in town. Whether you were a Ford family, a Chevrolet family or a Dodge family was about the only difference. WWII was real in that it was only about 25 years in the past—it was like 9/11 is today to us.
And those families all listened to ABC, CBS, NBC and/or read a local paper. They got accurate curated news in 30 minute bits that matched what everyone else in the country knew about local, national and international events. America started getting fake news when Rush hit the airways in 1989 and America became more and more divided based on lucrative disinformation.
It was the removal of the Fairness Doctrine that stated if you were giving your opinion on TV, the station had to give time to the opposing opinion. So there were fewer "opinion" shows. The removal of that guardrail allowed Fox News to spread propaganda.
Watching cops busting heads on the nightly news, and seeing the carnage of the Viet Nam war really did change people’s minds about civil rights and about the justice of the war in Viet Nam.
Boomer here! Our parents definitely drove home the dangers of demagoguery and fascism, and we remember. We women also remember life before Roe and know how hard our society worked to move forward with respect to all rights —culminating in the right to gay marriage in 2015. Donald Trump and MAGA has set back this drive toward equal rights …we see all that we earned under threat by MAGA, the Heritage Foundation and the Federalist Society, and increasingly an activist SCOTUS. We are terrified and we are pissed. And we are going out to vote to be a bulwark against all those who fail to realize the danger. I hope and pray it works.
I wish my boomer mom felt that way about abortion. She is opposed no matter what for religious reasons, but I told her the other day… I certainly hope (her granddaughters name) doesn’t have to die for your beliefs one day 🤷🏻♀️.
I am hopeful that all you say is true, but I can't help but notice that in the last two elections, Trump's greatest support came from the older voters. You're parents may have drove home those dangers, as did my grandparents, but sadly, I don't think we can make that blanket statement for the generation at large. Or even make it for the Silent generation before them either.
Now your point on equal rights and older women, I'm certainly willing to be more open to.
It's the older FEMALE voters that Selzer's poll showed are supporting Harris. The margin among women 65 and over is more than 2 to 1. It's 63-28.
This is what she said about them on Tim's podcast yesterday: " . . . two Iowa districts tilting toward the Democratic [House] candidate. And that includes a big lead in the first district, which is 53 to 37. And that district in particular . . . the driving issue, from what I read, has been the abortion issue. And it was over the summer that Iowa's six-week ban on abortion went into effect after all the court challenges were taken care of. So the decision being made, the law going into force, and then people living with it for a while . . . To me, it seems like to a certain extent there's something organic going on because the presidential candidates certainly aren't spending any money or time here. And it may be, in fact, that these congressional races are driving the presidential race toward the Democrats . . . "
Good to see. I do think it kinda makes my point that the change is the abortion issue, not some awakening of the older voters about the threat of autocracy.
I'm really hoping for some surprising results out there in places like Iowa. And maybe, just maybe we can translate that into wins in other areas in coming years. If the voters in places like Iowa can recognize their power to reject Republicans ruling them on issues they disagree with, maybe that can happen on things like guns too (background checks, red flags, etc.).
As I think about it some more, abortion and autocracy are related: A government that can force a woman to carry a pregnancy to term is an authoritarian one.
Very true. Though we still need work in a general sense. From a certain perspective a case could be made that we collectively only woke up to the autocracy when it was coming for us (women first, but also the men who care about them).
I’m one of the latter boomers. I am sick and tired of fighting for rights that men take for granted. I’m tired of being condescended to and talked down to. I’m tired of seeing men promoted to positions when they are far less talented and qualified than women. We’ve been fighting for equality our entire lives and it’s infuriating to see so much misogyny and hate fully embraced by Trump and his followers. It’s not about money - not everyone benefits from generational wealth.
“Now, maybe the boomers are just trying to protect their 401K's and Social Security…” Not this Boomer. I paid attention in History class. Our world is far from perfect but we owe the relative peace and stability to the world remade in the peace settlements of WWII. No-one has proposed anything better, and we rip up NATO, our UN membership and other regional treaties at our peril.
I agree. I'm Gen X. Old enough to have heard first person stories from elders.
Both my grandfather's fought in WW2 and one returned. He didn't speak about war often but I heard enough through him or family to know about the horrors of war and fascism.
In college I joined Choice marches and our elders told stories about the horrible options before ROE.
What strikes me most about Ann Selzer's poll is that boomers, whose parents were alive during the rise of European fascism, are stepping up and saying, "Not on our watch." Now, maybe the boomers are just trying to protect their 401K's and Social Security, but I don't think that alone can explain why so many white people over 65 are voting for a "San Francisco liberal." When Kamala wins, we will owe a huge debt of gratitude to the women of this country and the boomers.
You know it’s interesting. My parents have been diehard republicans my entire life (42). My mom is all that’s left now and she is a Trumper , but the first crack that came in that support was when he came out for Russia when they invaded Ukraine. Ever since the party has been outwardly pro-Russian … that’s the line for her. Not J6, not attacking the press, not assaulting women etc etc etc. but Russia? She remembers the Cold War , and I think that’s all the difference.
As it should be. I’m baffled that people my age (62) don’t draw that same line. We grew up with films on the evils of Communism, the Iron Curtain, the occasional news stories about East Germans getting shot trying to breach the Berlin Wall. Those days are what Putin is seeking to recreate. It’s the Evil Empire, people. WTF.
Agreed. I’ve been making this point too. My dad was in his 40s when I was born, and he served during WWII, as did his friends. One of his buddies steadfastly refused to purchase German made products or even fly in German made commercial planes. As a child, I didn’t understand this. But I gradually learned, through history class, books, and movies what that war was all about and what lessons we all needed to learn from it. Those who are older than I likely got more meaningful first hand information from their elders and learned the same lessons. Especially the women, because they’ve had a sample of being treated as inferior throughout their lives in one setting or another. And how many of their mothers were diligent and serious voters because they knew a time when women were not allowed to vote? Multiple memories at work here for this demographic.
As a boomer, I can vividly remember the 60's and early 70's when so many major social justice battles were fought and won. One of those battles was the removal of the draft...because men had no rights over their own bodies between the ages of 18-25. Fast forward and it's women with no rights over their own bodies, and all those other victories are being eroded away through SCOTUS decisions. We aren't going back.
When I was growing up, we lived in a subdivision that had been built in the early 1950’s. All white, middle class, etc. Every dad on the block, and most of the dads of my friends, were WWII vets. Probably a few Korea vets in there, but it’s hard to describe the cocoon that existed at the time. People who all experienced more or less the same thing at the same time, went on to form families at more or less the same time, bought houses at the same time, watched the same shows, worked at the same few big workplaces in town. Whether you were a Ford family, a Chevrolet family or a Dodge family was about the only difference. WWII was real in that it was only about 25 years in the past—it was like 9/11 is today to us.
And those families all listened to ABC, CBS, NBC and/or read a local paper. They got accurate curated news in 30 minute bits that matched what everyone else in the country knew about local, national and international events. America started getting fake news when Rush hit the airways in 1989 and America became more and more divided based on lucrative disinformation.
It was the removal of the Fairness Doctrine that stated if you were giving your opinion on TV, the station had to give time to the opposing opinion. So there were fewer "opinion" shows. The removal of that guardrail allowed Fox News to spread propaganda.
Watching cops busting heads on the nightly news, and seeing the carnage of the Viet Nam war really did change people’s minds about civil rights and about the justice of the war in Viet Nam.
Boomer here! Our parents definitely drove home the dangers of demagoguery and fascism, and we remember. We women also remember life before Roe and know how hard our society worked to move forward with respect to all rights —culminating in the right to gay marriage in 2015. Donald Trump and MAGA has set back this drive toward equal rights …we see all that we earned under threat by MAGA, the Heritage Foundation and the Federalist Society, and increasingly an activist SCOTUS. We are terrified and we are pissed. And we are going out to vote to be a bulwark against all those who fail to realize the danger. I hope and pray it works.
I wish my boomer mom felt that way about abortion. She is opposed no matter what for religious reasons, but I told her the other day… I certainly hope (her granddaughters name) doesn’t have to die for your beliefs one day 🤷🏻♀️.
I am hopeful that all you say is true, but I can't help but notice that in the last two elections, Trump's greatest support came from the older voters. You're parents may have drove home those dangers, as did my grandparents, but sadly, I don't think we can make that blanket statement for the generation at large. Or even make it for the Silent generation before them either.
Now your point on equal rights and older women, I'm certainly willing to be more open to.
It's the older FEMALE voters that Selzer's poll showed are supporting Harris. The margin among women 65 and over is more than 2 to 1. It's 63-28.
This is what she said about them on Tim's podcast yesterday: " . . . two Iowa districts tilting toward the Democratic [House] candidate. And that includes a big lead in the first district, which is 53 to 37. And that district in particular . . . the driving issue, from what I read, has been the abortion issue. And it was over the summer that Iowa's six-week ban on abortion went into effect after all the court challenges were taken care of. So the decision being made, the law going into force, and then people living with it for a while . . . To me, it seems like to a certain extent there's something organic going on because the presidential candidates certainly aren't spending any money or time here. And it may be, in fact, that these congressional races are driving the presidential race toward the Democrats . . . "
Older male voters are leaving Trump too
Good to see. I do think it kinda makes my point that the change is the abortion issue, not some awakening of the older voters about the threat of autocracy.
I'm really hoping for some surprising results out there in places like Iowa. And maybe, just maybe we can translate that into wins in other areas in coming years. If the voters in places like Iowa can recognize their power to reject Republicans ruling them on issues they disagree with, maybe that can happen on things like guns too (background checks, red flags, etc.).
Yes, you did say that.
As I think about it some more, abortion and autocracy are related: A government that can force a woman to carry a pregnancy to term is an authoritarian one.
Very true. Though we still need work in a general sense. From a certain perspective a case could be made that we collectively only woke up to the autocracy when it was coming for us (women first, but also the men who care about them).
You know, that could make a good sign / T-shirt.
I’m one of the latter boomers. I am sick and tired of fighting for rights that men take for granted. I’m tired of being condescended to and talked down to. I’m tired of seeing men promoted to positions when they are far less talented and qualified than women. We’ve been fighting for equality our entire lives and it’s infuriating to see so much misogyny and hate fully embraced by Trump and his followers. It’s not about money - not everyone benefits from generational wealth.
“Now, maybe the boomers are just trying to protect their 401K's and Social Security…” Not this Boomer. I paid attention in History class. Our world is far from perfect but we owe the relative peace and stability to the world remade in the peace settlements of WWII. No-one has proposed anything better, and we rip up NATO, our UN membership and other regional treaties at our peril.
I agree. I'm Gen X. Old enough to have heard first person stories from elders.
Both my grandfather's fought in WW2 and one returned. He didn't speak about war often but I heard enough through him or family to know about the horrors of war and fascism.
In college I joined Choice marches and our elders told stories about the horrible options before ROE.