what age groups are the most Democratic? check this graph ...

[welshTerrier2]

the graph below shows a very strong trend away from republicans and toward Democrats for people under about age 28 ... 21 year olds are the most Democratic of all ... Democratic peaks by age also occurred with voters between 75 and 80 and with voters in their 50's ... the most republican leaning age group was people around age 36 ...

[blondeatlast]

1. Very interesting. I've alwasy thought the Democrats should start recruitin

volunteers in junior high and high school to get them excited about the process.

This seems to reinforce that need, IMHO (the 21 yo vote).

K&R.

[vi5]

2. How the hell is my age group the most Republican?

I'm 36. The only thing I can think of is what Atrios hit upon last week on this subject. While my age grew up with Live Aid, and USA For Africa and listening to liberal bands and all that, we also got most impacted by the whole ridiculous backlash against "political correctness" and nanny state issues which as Atrios noted people tend to equate with Dems.

[welshTerrier2]

3. i blame it all on that Family Ties tv show ...

actually, i have absolutely no idea what kind of influence tv shows like Family Ties have on people's political leanings ... but if you look at the politics of that show, the liberal parents were kind of goofy and Alex, the child stockbroker, was always portrayed as the most competent ...

as for your "surviving your generation's brain washing", i'd wear that as a badge of honor ...

[vi5]

5. But the thing is...

..that while most of my friends who are my age aren't overly political as far as I know, I don't think any of them are conservative or self identified republicans. I think at worst they're apolitical but in most cases I think they're fairly liberal. I live in a fairly liberal state though.

[Clark2008]

9. I'm 36 as well and I don't get it.

It must be some weird Ronnie Raygun brainwashing or something.

[Doctor_J]

10. Hate radio

is this not obvious? The TV and radio have been completely GOP ruled for roughly 16 years. Ever since you could vote you have been bombarded by ultra-rw propaganda.

[vi5]

11. How do you figure?

I've been voting since 1988. Right Wing radio didn't pick up steam until the mid 90's.

[Doctor_J]

13. It was a huge factor in 1994, and was flooding the ariwaves

ever since Clinton took office in 92. so for 14 of the 18 years you've been voting, all you've heard on TV and radio is GOP propaganda. Isn't it kind of silly to think it isn't a major factor in people of your age group?

[vi5]

15. Yeah, but no more mine than anyone else...

We had a good 6 years to form our opinions on things before talk radio was a factor. I would think it would impact more the people turning voting age in the mid 90's.

[Quantess]

16. Yikes. That is bizzarre.

I'm almost 36. People our age were heavily influenced by the Reagan years. Maybe a lot of people our age believed the hype about Reagan, at that suggestible age, and are now searching for another Reagan?

I thought that in your 30s, you're supposed to still be open minded enough to look around you and realize that a particular ideology isn't working. I always thought that people in their 30s are pretty intelligent, but this chart makes me wonder...

edited for spelling.

[Psst_Im_Not_Here]

23. Also 36 and

I've gone from republican, "old school", that is to very liberal.My first vote went to Bush I. My second presidential vote went to Clinton. As I became more ducated, I became more liberal. Now I sport a "Will NOT get more conservative wth age" button.

[splat]

4. Can't poll the youngest voters, either

They're all on cell phones.

[karynnj]

6. This is a facinating chart

One interesting thing is that if the next 4 years of people (those who couldn't vote in 2004 but can vote in 2008) is similar to the 4 years before them, everyone older could vote as they did and the addition of these people could lead to a Democratic majority.

[sinkingfeeling]

7. Interesting. I think the very young are are more idealist so go Democratic

Then when they enter the work rat race and marry and have kids and houses, they get 'greedy'. They want lower taxes and more and more breaks for 'families', therefore, leaning to the GOP. And finally, when they have experience and wisdom through age, they come back to the Democratic party.

Oops, forgot to add. I turned 20 during LBJ, but following JFK. My heart and soul was in the 'youth' movement and civil rights, though I couldn't follow the hippie life. I went to work for a giant corporation in 1973, age 24, and there were a lot of folks like me. As the years went by, I saw more and more of my co-workers swing to 'conservatism' and start voting Republican. It was the 'sold out' to the 'establishment' thing.

[amandabeech]

8. Many older adults think that the Pubbies are the most likely to cut

Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid for nursing homes and the destitute.

They're probably right.

[Quantess]

17. not probably. DEFINITELY. (no text)

[amandabeech]

26. I'd agree with you on the "definitely," if we could get ride of the DLC.

There are folks in that group who are economic Pubbies, at least in my estimation.

[Greyhound]

12. Combine this data/chart with the data of who actually goes to the

polls and votes and it becomes clear why Re:puke:s have won so frequently. It makes no sense, is beyond reasoning but the fact is and has been that the 18 - 25 demo just doesn't vote. Even though the numbers go up, the percentage is a consistent 17% for as long as I can remember.
Add this the sheer numbers the scourge (baby boomer) generation has and things make more sense.

[carolinayellowdog]

19. Boomers are no scourge according to this graph

Gen Xers are

[The Anti-Neo Con]

24. You may be right there.

I'm a Gen X-er who always votes democratic, but a lot of peers in my age group vote GOP. I'm not sure if it's greed/lower taxes, or the Reagan influence, but it's disturbing. In my experiences, other X-ers tend to be the most rabid repukes of all the age groups.

[carolinayellowdog]

25. The other R peak is people around 70

Which I suppose is the "lost generation" between the WWII vets and their boomer kids. I guess they bought into the Eisenhower mystique the way Gen Xers bought into the Reagan mystique.

[nam78_two]

27. Makes sense to me as a Gen Xer

:-/

[The Count]

20. Republicans didn't ahem..."win" so frequently....they stole...

I wonder how many of the senior votes they have are from people who have no idea what they were doing?

[BootinUp]

14. Interesting, strong suggestion that people stay loyal

to their party.

[carolinayellowdog]

18. Makes me proud to be 52!

We are the peak for Dem affiliation of all ages older than 24. Coming of age in the Vietnam/Watergate years probably accounts for it.

[TheModernTerrorist]

21. this is exactly why

we need to turn out the college vote... in a BIG way.

makes me proud to be 24 :)

[d_b]

22. Least Republican: Age 24

That's me :D

[brazil]

28. Just to confuse matters...

The peaks for Democrats are at ages 76-79, 51-55, and 20-28. The gap between each of these spikes is 25 years or so, about the average age gap between mother and child. (That gap is around 28 now and was around 25 in the 1950s.)

Parental voting patterns have always been a reasonably good predictor of children's voting patterns. Because of this, I'm not sure how much external events (like who's in power at a given time) influence things. But once again, it's hard to distinguish cause and effect.

One other thing to add to the mix is that the meanings of 'Republican' and 'Democrat' have shifted quite a bit over the 70 years covered by this data.

[NJ Democrats]

29. I'm 14 and a Liberal Dem!

So that stat works for me!

[4_TN_TITANS]

30. 52% vs 37%

:wtf:
And we're supposed to believe that so many of the current races are nail-biters / squeakers ?????

[HamdenRice]

31. Effects of the brain dead Reagan years

This chart shows that people who grew up while that doddering old fool was president and came of age toward the end of the Reagan-Bush regime, were the most brainwashed generation of Americans. Makes sense to me. I was just a little older and I saw the effects, and watched the little pod people grow into republican adults.