Purpose: To analyze the extent to which Americans aged 65 and older may have voted as an old age-benefits bloc in the 2010 midterm election in response to threats of Medicare rationing. Methods: Analysis of age group data from the Edison Research 2010 Election Day exit polls, complemented by data published elsewhere. Results: For the first time in…

Purpose: In the 2008 presidential election, a majority of older persons voted for John McCain, the loser. The purposes of this report are to help illuminate why older voters were the only age-group that gave a majority to McCain and to delineate some ongoing issues in the analysis of older persons' voting behavior. Methods: Analysis was undertaken…

Examines what is known about one element of the politics of aging--the voting behavior of older persons in recent presidential elections--and suggests areas of research on the 1992 election that may tell something about how far, and how soon, proponents of generational equity will be able to move toward dismantling policies that benefit older…

For several decades, candidates in U.S. presidential election campaigns have articulated policy issues designed to appeal to older Americans. However, exit-poll data have consistently shown that older people have distributed their votes among presidential candidates in roughly the same proportions as the electorate as a whole, favoring the winner…

Politically alienated elderly include those feeling inefficacious and others who are cynical. Yet cynics hold favorable attitudes toward voting and regularly cast ballots. The inefficacy and cynicism associated with political conservatism reflect pre-New Deal educational norms and political orientation. (Author)

Examines age-related changing levels of voting turnout across time at the individual level, using the University of Michigan Survey Research Center panel studies. Demonstrated that older people do not differ substantially from other age groups in the durability of their voting behavior across time. (JAC)

Do politicians behave on the conventional premise that old-age based election campaign efforts can shift the votes of older persons from one candidate to another? A case examination of the 1976 campaign of Jimmy Carter for the Presidency of the United States raises some doubts about the centrality of this premise. (Author)

Examined voting behavior among 370 low-income older African Americans by assessing impact of various predictors on electoral participation in 7 elections. Elders who were active in community, with strong sense of citizen duty, who identified as strong Democrats, and with higher levels of education were more likely to vote. (Author/NB)