Why do Seniors vote Republican? When their whole welfare is based on SS and Medicare?

[lib2DaBone]

I dont' get it? I know I am a slow learner... but the voters in FLroida put Rick Scott in the Governors seat.. a man who stole $1.9 billion from medicare.

The Seniors also elected an overwhleming Republican majority in the house... a majority that will certainly cut all their social security benefits and madicare.

I just don't get it?

[Jackpine Radical]

1. Mostly because the whole bunch of us

are idiots.

[CTyankee]

60. That is NOT TRUE. I , and manyother seniors, in my community stand up and fight

against that LIE. We are not fighting an us v. them game. We want a win/win game for everyone.

It is just not the case that all we care about is us. We have grown children and grandchildren and we worry about them more than we worry about ourselves...

[Jackpine Radical]

94. I'm 66, I've been politically active on the left since I got back

from Vietnam, and in my local community I'm embedded in the progressive movement. I think I have some idea of what you're talking about. And I have an aversion to using the little sarcasm thingie.

[Cleita]

2. Because Rush Limbaugh or Glenn Beck comes along

and tells them that librul hippies are going to get everyone stoned, gay married and bring them death panels.

[Yupster]

97. Older people have been more conservative a lot longer than

Beck's been around.

Every election the Democratic candidates win the youth vote by 20 % or more. That's been going on for 50 years or more.

Ever wonder why that never seems to translate into an overwhelming Democratic majority as these old conservatives die off?

It's because there's a constant changeover of people from liberal to conservative as they get older.

It has to be.

Otherwise the Democratic voters would overwhelm the Republicans by now.

[Juche]

99. Not true

Young people supported Reagan in 1980 and 1984. I think Reagan won the youth vote by 20% in 1980.

The youth today are actually different than youth in the past, that is my understanding. We/they are on cultural, economic, scientific and pragmatic grounds more likely to reject the GOP and find the dems appealling. When you compare youth today to youth in the past the results are different. Then again I have heard baby boomers say they felt the same way about their generation and ended up being wrong. But youth today grow up in an environment full of economic uncertainty and debt, and the conservative party is openly plutocratic and cold blooded, which turns a lot of youth away. Throw in their anti-scientific and theocratic leanings and they don't have much appeal.

In fact youth didn't start turning liberal until 2004. In 04 youth gave Kerry about an 11 point margin. By 2006 dems won by a 20 point margin. In 2008 Obama won youth with a 34 point margin. Around 2000 it was more even. Bush and Gore both won about 48% of the youth vote.

http://arts.bev.net/roperldavid/politics/exitpolls.htm

People actually get more liberal as they age. But because society arguably becomes more liberal with time, they appear more conservative.

http://www.livescience.com/health/080310-liberal-seniors.html

WHen I say society becomes more liberal, I mean for the most part society develops more and bigger public safety nets and more social tolerance. Medicare and medicaid came in the 60s. Interracial and gay marriage are more acceptable, so are women working outside the home. There are better welfare programs than in the 1950s, etc. So older people seem more conservative because the society they grew up in is more conservative than the current one. THe same thing will hopefully happen to my generation, and hopefully when I am old society will be much more liberal than it is now, making me seem more conservative by comparison.

[plain1]

3. Great question

They must vote on the basis of other issues that they feel strongly about.

[theophilus]

13. A.K.A. Fear. n/t

[molly77]

126. I think a lot of it is the churches now preach to be republican is to be good.

godly whatever.

You think I am way out in left field? he he ..An old friend in the south gave her tithes for a year to a young man working in the republican organization. 10% of your income is a sizable chunk. The friend has been all over the world and is not stupid. Just blindly religious. This is going on all over the south.

[rfranklin]

43. They vote on misinformation and racism...

They listen to the propaganda on AM radio and Fox TV news. They are convinced that the "coloreds" are getting 90% of their tax money.

[virgogal]

71. Your bias and condescension astonishes me. You should

get out and mix more.

[rfranklin]

79. I am speaking from firsthand experience...

Every Republican that I talk to is convinced that everyone, and especially people of color, are taking their money through taxes. Where have you been where Republicans are different? Here in New Jersey, one of our top Republican legislators was quoted recently as saying that people collecting unemployment were too lazy to work and used the money to buy drugs.

So, please, don't scold me in your condescending and naive fashion.

[madmax]

90. Born and raised in NJ

I agree with you. Now living in NC for 3 years. I haven't come across overt racism here as I did in NJ. Being white I heard a lot more than I wanted to about lazy so and so's on welfare, unemployment and worse.

Generally speaking most black and whites seem to have more respect for each other here in NC. Maybe I've just encountered it here. I hope it's because so many from NY and NJ are moving here - we're liberal. Little by little we're going to turn NC Blue.

[Jackpine Radical]

95. I thought we were talking about geezers in general,

not just Republicans.

[rfranklin]

125. No, geezers who vote Republican...

and I am not picking on geezers. I am one.

[chimpymustgo]

113. "They are convinced that the "coloreds" are getting 90% of their tax money." In a nutshell.

[RobinA]

124. This Has Been

my experience. All my relatives in their '70's vote Repub. They are utterly blind to what the Repub party has become and vote solely on the fact that Dems want to give their hard-earned money to lazy slackers who could work but don't want to. Also Repubs were tough on Communism, Johnson was a crook, Kennedy's father was a crook, etc., etc. They haven't paid attention since the '60's. Poll their stand on issues and they'd be Dems, but they would NEVER vote that way.

[bluestate10]

129. Democrats need to stand back and let people like that feel the carnage of their votes.

But being democrats, democrats will sacrifice themselves to save the day, only to start the vicious cycle all over again.

[tblue37]

70. No, mostly they have simply been misinformed by a very effective

and well-financed propaganda campaign backed by many of the wealthiest individuals and corporations in the world. If they could get straight information, they would vote their interests rather than prejudice and ignorance.

[jtown1123]

112. Yes, they have been lied to. Most get their news from TV and we all know how "balanced" that is

[elocs]

4. Why do Blacks vote Republican? Why do gays vote Republican?

Why do poor people who have little to nothing vote Republican? There are more to the list than just seniors.

[dsc]

18. a majority of seniors voted republican

while less than 1/3 of gays and 1/10 of blacks did in 2010.

[pipi_k]

49. So what's the actual percentage of seniors who voted Republican? n/t

[dsc]

64. they split 59 to 38 for US House

http://www.cnn.com/ELECTION/2010/results/polls/#USH00p1

[Little Star]

63. Can you point us to where you found those statistics?

[dsc]

65. Here

http://www.cnn.com/ELECTION/2010/results/polls/#USH00p1

[otohara]

106. 24/7 on the TeeVee - prior to mid-terms

like a broken record

[Ozymanithrax]

5. Psychologically, they tend to be conservative...

and the older they get, the more likely they are to go back to the way people thought when they were kids. The brain does deteriorate in its sharpness over time. That is a medical fact. They go where they are comfortable.

[RKP5637]

8. Does that mean the next group will go back to the sixties!

:)

[Ozymanithrax]

14. Could be. Make sense as understand it.

Though, if you look at how they grew up in the 50's and early 60's it would be different from their wildly rebellious youth.

[RKP5637]

20. Actually, I would like to go forward a few years and see where we're headed, we all

might want to go back in time!

[Ozymanithrax]

27. I grew up in a town that until the Civil Rights act, made it illegal...

for a non white person to be in city limits after sunset, and according to town legend, there was a sign on the Chikaski river Bridge that said "The sun doesn't set on a n----r in Blackwell."

Of course, my mother, a life long Democrat at 89, spent most of her life near there and was born in a Little town named Juma, just across the county line. She is a life long Democrat and even suffering in the middle stages from Alzheimer's is still a liberal.

But most of the elderly I've know have become more Conservative over time. They are uncomfortable with change, and are more amenable to keeping things as they are.

[RKP5637]

36. I agree, I think that's generally true that many of the elderly tend to be pretty

conservative. I recall well when I was young I used to say it will be better when all of the creepy old conservatives are gone ... and here I am now with a whole new crop of new ones, and the others are all gone.

[emilyg]

9. I found this to be

true with my family and older friends.

[doc03]

25. What the hell is the matter with me the older I get the

more liberal I am? Thirty years ago I was a flaming conservative nut job.

[Ozymanithrax]

32. There are always exceptions.

My mother is a life long liberal at 89. At 59, I am more liberal now that I was at 21. I was never a hide bound consrervative. I didn't question things as much then.

[socialist_n_TN]

74. I guess most of us get more conservative as we age...........

I used to be a commie and now I'm just a small "s" socialist. :)

[AndyTiedye]

47. Somewhat Conservative in the 60s, Flaming Liberal Now. My Positions Haven't Changed Much

They've moved the goalposts and repainted all the lines.

[Odin2005]

86. My mom's mom is of that generation (she's 80), and she has gotten more liberal with age.

She was a big fan of Tiger Woods until his "issues".

[HughBeaumont]

6. They're GENERALLY bitter & hateful people who believe in Reagan and bootstraps groupthink.

DU and Democratic seniors excluded, of course, which is why I said GENERALLY.

But it's really amazing how many were swayed by Nixon's and Reagan's bullshit. I also blame Fox "News" for their USA USA USA DEMOCRATS AH THUH DEVUL! message, which they seem to lap up like cream corn.

[Synicus Maximus]

30. Fox News came long after Nixon and Reagan. We sure can

blame Bush on Fox but not the other two.

[bbgrunt]

39. and Fux watchers are older on average than those of other channels.

[rfranklin]

46. Fox just catapults the propaganda, Nixon and Reagan both ran on racism...

For Nixon the theme was the "silent majority, basically those who felt stifled because they couldn't be outwardly racist and who were fearful of the sex and drugs that the MSM was so focused on at that time. Reagan ran on his bogus stories of "welfare queens" who arrived to pick up their government checks in Cadillacs.

[mmonk]

7. They have bought into the fear and propaganda.

Also, churches have influence on them as well as senior care centers and the like carrying Fox "news".

[WingDinger]

10. Because they want things to stay like when they were kids. And Rethugs promise that.

Talk all God'ie and stuff. Make them think that Godless forces of culture can be stopped. At least till they are dead.

[napi21]

11. I think a lot of it has to do with where you grew up and what your

experiences were. If your heritage is from the south, you vote Pub because you still haven't forgotten that you were forced to accept blacks voting and forced integration. People also tend to remember thegood things from the past and forget the bad.

The oldsters all want to go back to "the way it was"!

[RKP5637]

19. I grew up in the 50's and there's no F'en way I want to go back to the 50's. n/t

[napi21]

28. I grew up in the 50's too, an though I don't want to go back,

there ARE some things I wish were the same. I really was a "WE" society back then...at least where I grew up. People watched out for each other, and woud always help those who needed help. I don't know when the "ME" society began, but I'd love to see it go away!

[RKP5637]

38. Yes, it was a "WE" society back then. In most cases people tried to work

together more than now wherein it's always about "ME" first and screwing over the others. Same here, I would also like to see the "ME" society go away.

[AndyTiedye]

48. For a Sufficiently Restrictive Definition of "We"

A lot of people were excluded from that "we".

[RKP5637]

76. Yes, that's true, I was thinking about that when I was typing but didn't

go off onto it ... there were groups of excluded people.

I think the best description of today I've heard is that people belong to tribes. I don't know where I heard that, maybe it was Biden, but it seemed a pretty good description to me.

[Jamastiene]

80. My grandmother used to scoff at anyone who talked about "the good old days."

She always said there was no such thing as "the good old days." You had to walk down into the woods to get water out of a well and if you wanted a warm bath, you had to heat the water. The toilet was out in the yard and dark and creepy inside. There were no washers and dryers. You had to shovel coal to stay warm. You had to do everything the hardest way possible. Everything was harder in the "old days."

Anytime anyone talked about "the good old days," my grandmother would let them have it. I loved it. :rofl:

[Odin2005]

91. LOL, my dad's mom was the same way.

She grew up on a farm during the Depression, tough ol' farm girl. Lost a finger in a accident with the farm machinery. She was one of the cooks at her local senior's center and she would give hell to any fellow oldster that talked about the "good old days"! :rofl:

[freshwest]

12. Because they are a captive audience at home and watch and listen to RW media. And they're scared.

[virgogal]

24. I'm a senior and most of us are certainly not captive

audiences at home watching mind numbing TV all day. Jeesh!

Also,I am not scared,and none of my friends are----we've lived through too much.

[RKP5637]

29. Yep, same here! In my case I'm far more liberal than the youth I see/hear! n/t

[freshwest]

72. Are you offended with my reply? I hope not.

I didn't say I was any of those things, nor did I say most, and most certainly not anyone here.

The question was why seniors DID vote for the GOP, not why seniors DID NOT vote for the GOP.

You gave me an example of why NOT, and I know plenty of people just like you, who are my buds.

But I know several seniors personally, even in my own family, who do sit in front of the idiot box all day long and listen to Glenn Beck etc. They have become terrified of Muslims, Mexicans and all sorts of things they never had before.

They call me up breathless with anxiety and outrage over what they heard on FOX today. It's gotten to the point I can't converse with them logically on any point. Some of my friends are also having the same problem with their senior and not-so-senior friends, too.

They are shut-ins and the TV is all they have for company. Its pretty bad company. Oh, and they DID vote for the Tea Party candidates with their mail-in ballots. It happens.

As far as the evil eye goes, the only time mine has been connected to cable was during the 2008 inauguration. I disconnected it again just as it has been for half a decade.

So you have a great Sunday night, since we're all Democrats here. I apologize if you think this was a generalization of people here and I've certainly seen a lot in life myself.

And I'm not scared, but know people who are scared and it's from realizing things they didn't know before and media hysteria.

Do you have a reason to explain why as the OP says that seniors voted Republican?

BTW. I am a very liberal, life-long Democrat and a senior who has worked in political, civil rights and environmental campaigns since I was 15 years old and became a union steward at the age of 20. So you're in good company here.

[virgogal]

75. Yeah,I was a tad offended because the majority of my friends

(in our seventies)do volunteer work,read and belong to book clubs,go to movies,some travel, and I'm going the the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston tomorrow to see the new wing. My TV goes on about 7:00 PM because I rarely go out at night.

I have mixed race grand children,my good friend has a gay son, who she adores,I've attended a gay marriage,and we've all been through a lot in our long lives.

I hate to be stereotyped just because I happen to be old. Who would?

Thanks for your nice reply.

All is well. :-)

[The Backlash Cometh]

15. They don't see the full picture.

Nobody has ever explained to them how they have been misled by their own prejudices.

[RKP5637]

45. I also think many seniors come from a more trusting time, when the MSM

was more above board, when there was more real journalism. In general I think more people are streetwise today to MSM and the endless propaganda in this country, but there are still many that trust Fox news and the like. Hence, as you say, "they don't see the full picture."

[BOG PERSON]

16. old people are parasites

let's kill and eat the elderly. for the good of society. first let's start with our parents to prove our commitment to the cause.

[DBoon]

40. been done already

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0063808/plotsummary

[dkf]

17. What do state elections have to do with SS and Medicare?

[DURHAM D]

23. I had to scroll all the way to the bottom post before

someone challenged the OP. Thanks.

The OP must not be a senior but an ancient or a youngster. Who has the stupid?

[Liberal Veteran]

31. delete, wrong place to reply

[bluestate10]

130. A lot.

States send Reps to Congress. Those Reps set policy. From my perspective, seniors having their SS reduced is irrelevant, the seniors in my family are set to weather any policy. I am a tad vengeful, nothing would please me more that to see many of the teabaggers that were out raising hell most of 2010 suffering. They won't starve, I personally would work against that, but I want them to see which party really cares about their asses, that party is not the republican party.

[former9thward]

21. When you call SS and Medicare "welfare" you clearly don't get it.

Most seniors don't think of SS as "welfare" since they have been paying into it their whole lives. Also SS is not responsible for their "whole welfare" for a majority of seniors. If the supporters of our candidates are campaigning using "SS is welfare" like you do it is no wonder they vote for Rs.

[Liberal Veteran]

34. I took "welfare" as a generic term rather than the government program term.

[bluestate10]

133. The amount that people.

In their 70s, 80s and 90s paid into SS is small compared with what they take out of it. This is true even if one assume standard stock market rates of return for their paltry payments into SS over their working lives. Wealthy people that pay SS are exceptions, but they don't need SS to survive in old age. SS is welfare for all poor people, lower middle class and many middle class americans. I want republican voting oldsters to get a taste of what republicans want. Pelosi and Reid should stand democrats down and allow repugs to enact a two year program of SS freezes and cuts. If that happens, democrats will have great success in 2012, with oldsters having learned a tough lesson.

[former9thward]

137. Some get more than they paid in but others die before getting a penny.

The plan you suggest will never happen because any cuts in SS will have the support of both parties or it will never be voted on. That's just the political reality.

[juajen]

22. I'm do not know; but I do know that elections are stolen every day

and we have ample evidence that Bush was not elected either time. Remember all of the histrionics over Ohio? Remember how furious we were that we did not get a man nominated that would protest this election if it was stolen? We get the politicians that the powers that be want elected, plain and simple. Until we have real election reform, we are just whistling Dixie. I'm going, "Talk amongst yourselves."

[glinda]

53. Elections need to be paper ballots. I think MN. this round had some screwy results. Too many

Repubs got in. Like way too many.

[undeterred]

26. They don't.

[elehhhhna]

33. ding ding ding we have a winner! Nobody knows how they vote. The machines do the voting now.

[brewens]

35. A lot feel they will be grandfathered in if SS or medicare is cut.

I work with an older volunteer enough to have heard her comment on HCR and a few other things she's against. She has said, "I just hope it doesn't effect me", several times. She feels that she got hers, and to hell with everyone else.
Interesting that she was a nurse at a mill most of her career. She put in about 30 years stating in the 60's to early 90's. With the union retirement, she is sitting pretty well. Being a conservative Republican, it's ironic that she can thank exactly the kind of people and programs she is against, for everything she has. Nothing is more socialist than a labor union, and she loves her medicare and social security.

[AndyTiedye]

37. Old people don't necessarily become senile, but those who do trend overwhelmingly Republican

[prolesunited]

41. Because these are the same people who carry signs

that say "Keep your Socialist Obamacare away from my Medicare"

[glinda]

54. Has anyone ever asked them if they get paid to carry those signs? I bet they do.

[prolesunited]

55. Not all

I've read interviews with some who were retired federal workers or current police officers and firefighters complaining about Medicare, Social Security, taxes and socialism. There is just a huge disconnect. There's always someone who is different and less deserving than them. They "earned" it. Everyone else is a freeloader.

[LiberalFighter]

42. One reason: They didn't know enough about Scott.

Media's fault
Democrat's fault
Campaign's fault

For not getting the facts out to them.

[crim son]

44. My republican father was/is a traditional rethug

but even when it was clear that the shrub was a neocon with whose policies in general he seriously disagreed, he voted rethug on the abortion issue alone. I pointed out that the shrub wasn't going to be able to overturn roe vs wade, that nobody was going to overturn it, and he shrugged. My father is a retired ob/gyn which very much influenced/influences his vote. He sure as hell isn't a Beck listener but he is unwilling to face today's political reality.

[Saturday]

50. The 2 seniors at my house didn't vote Republican. nt

[jody]

51. Perhaps some seniors believe neither party has a way to solve SS problems but believe govt. needs to

reduce spending.

[DCBob]

52. Easily manipulated with fearmongering tactics...

Faux, Limbaugh, Beck, etc.. have an impact.

[Liberal_Stalwart71]

56. Seniors were the least likely to vote for Barack Obama. They fear change.

Translation: many of them cannot accept a black man as president. They grew up in different times. Overall, they don't favor Democrats because Democrats generally push for change. Many seniors don't like change or progress. They long for a "better day."

[NNN0LHI]

57. Not as many seniors depend on SS and Medicare as you might think

Most of the teabagger seniors who live around here want to see SS and Medicare completely done away with. They have told me so. They get their pensions and other benefits from state funded retirement programs. These are retired state and municipal workers for the most part. They only purchase imported cars too, because they know the workers who built them don't pay to fund our social programs like SS and Medicare.

I think that is where a lot of the confusion comes from.

Don

[sarcasmo]

58. One issue voters, Abortion. I have had that discussion with my significant others winger family.

[LibDemAlways]

59. I know 2 seniors who are rightwingers. Here's why.

My 80-something aunt had a hip replacement a while back and still doesn't get around too well. She has a whole lot of time on her hands and a radio tuned to Limbaugh and Hannity. When she turns on the tv, she watches FAUX News. She's a bigot and a firm believer that "colored" people get a free ride on the backs of whites. Her heroes are Reagan and the chimp. She's completely hopeless.

My husband's aunt is 90. She is a single issue voter - anti-abortion. Despite all evidence to the contrary, she is convinced Republicans will end abortion. She completely fails to see the lip service they pay to the issue. She's another one who thinks FAUX News is just peachy and is completely convinced the R's stand for God, country, and life.

These people are brainwashed. That's about as good an answer as I have.

On the brighter side my 88 year old mother is a lifelong Democrat and would never consider voting for a Republican. She remembers who brought her the Social Security and Medicare that she relies on.

[JVS]

61. A lot of the seniors who can afford to move to florida are quite affluent.

[OHdem10]

62. Obama put SS "on the table " and this frightened Seniors.

The Republicans took the narrative as usual and
became the Saviors of Medicare and SS. In the
last election, they ran saying if SS is reformed
they will make sure no changes for Americans
55 and over.

In Ohio, one Member was running an ad featuring
him and his mother sitting in their back yare.
His theme, Do you think I would cut or privatize
my mother's SS.

Democratic Party: Please Please do much better
at controling the narrative on TV this time around.

[madrchsod]

66. i`m on ss and obama`s cat food panel pissed me off...

i`m trying to figure out how he could be so god dam stupid.

[TheCowsCameHome]

67. Sounds like my whole family.

They cut off the very limb they're sitting on.

[tblue37]

68. They listen nonstop to RW propaganda, so they are

woefully misinformed. They do not understand anything at all about what different political directions the two parties take the country in. Even those who are Dems tend to prefer corporatist Dems in the primaries, because those are the Dems who have the financial backing to run more effective ads (and more of them) and to get their own message out to the voters over the messages of candidates who would be far more progresive.

[valerief]

69. It's not the voters. It's who counts the votes. Electronic voting.

For those seniors STOOOOOPID enough to vote Republican, though, it's because the the Repubs feed them:
>bootstrap bullshit
>Jesus-Jesus-Jesus
>"comfortable" racism
>and most of all LIES about the opposition

Those seniors have been conditioned to respond to such propaganda.

[HockeyMom]

73. Seniors who move and retiree to Florida

are a whole different kind of animal. I think their brains are fried by all the sun, heat, and living in "paradise". If I hear the word PARADISE one more time I will vomit.

I am a Senior and I live in Florida. I think they are all out of their ever lovin minds. I want OUT of this horrible, "where America goes to die" state. Not, THIS Senior.

They were probably nuts before they moved, and have just gotten worse living here.

[2Design]

77. Fox news and Churchs in doctrinate them to being that way

[jwirr]

78. I am 69 years old and I will try to tell you why I think some of us vote

repug. As you grow older you begin to doubt yourself and fear changes that you cannot understand. You look for something to cling to someone to follow. All too many of these people are watching MSM and esp. faux news or telling each other about what they heard from rush or hannety today.

If there is not a good source of information for them then they follow the leader. Thank God I found DU - at least what I am being told is the truth. Of course they think they are being told the truth also.

The real issue is that they are not the FDR generation and they are too far away to remember who it was that got them all that assistance from the cradle to the grave.

[COLGATE4]

81. I think it's natural that, the older we get the more insecure we become.

Everything starts changing, the body starts failing, our retirement isn't what we imagined it to be - a whole slew of things that make us more insecure, thus more easily frightened. That, coupled with the totally natural view of the past with rose-colored glasses makes seniors more apt to be scared by the day to day Rethug propaganda machine, which tells them to be afraid now and to work to get things back to 'the way they were'.

[FrancisTreptoe]

136. +1

[c14444c]

82. 50s generation

Most seniors reached voting age in the late 40s and 50s. This is the 50s generation, and were generally fairly conservative their entire lives.

The generational theme is big in the MSM; many always resented the boomers for "tearing America apart", and are counting on the Republicans to protect SS for themselves (and cut SS for the boomers going forward).

There are also a lot of older women who really wanted to see Hillary Clinton win the Presidency. This would have capped off their lives.

[Odin2005]

85. The Silent Generation, so-called because they were Nixon's "Silent Majority".

[DeSwiss]

83. Three words:

DIVIDE AND CONQUER

- K&R

[Odin2005]

84. Because they know they will be grandfathered in, so they don't care.

[rucky]

87. FTW

[Hippo_Tron]

88. For the ones who actually pay attention that's a big part of it

Republicans are smart enough to know not to mess with SS and Medicare for current seniors or soon to be retiring boomers when they propose privatization schemes.

[hadrons]

93. Bingo, they only care about screwing OTHER people ....

[jtown1123]

118. This is simply not true. Most seniors I deal with are very concerned about their

children and grandchildren and want them to have the same benefits of SS and Medicare as they did. We shouldn't alienate one of the most active groups fighting against draconian cuts...even ones that don't directly affect their benefits.

[Recovered Repug]

89. Maybe somewhere along the way, they got the impression

that Democrats have a condescending attitude toward seniors. I can't imagine where they got that.

Here's a thought, if the question is "Why do seniors vote Republican"? - wouldn't the best source of information be from seniors who vote Republican? I don't think anyone here qualifies.

[muntrv]

92. Because the republickers connect with them on social issues like

abortion, gays, Gawd.

[Taverner]

96. That shining white horse they get to ride into heaven

[Zoeisright]

98. Because they're stupid. And easily led. And scared of just about everything.

That's a lethal combination. As the next two years will prove.

[ladjf]

117. .........

[NC_Nurse]

100. Because any cuts that are made won't effect them. They won't go into effect

Until those of us just hitting our fifties get to that age. They got theirs, so screw the rest of us.

[applegrove]

101. They see the world changing, and not in a way that favours white privilege. Plus they feel blamed

for some of the ways the world has not been managed well. They feel attacked on all sides. Democrats represent change to them while the GOP represents going back in time. Which is what they want. Of course it is not possible to go back to a simpler time when the USA was the absolute greatest economy in the world. The USA has to compete with former east block countries, europe (which they didn't have to compete with after WWII), and asia and africa. In the 20th century they didn't have to compete with many of the places for the best part of the century so America was king and wealth spread to the middle class.

[gulliver]

102. Because they haven't been punished for it. They should be.

Why should anyone buy the Dem cow when milk is free? Dems in the House should simply stand aside and let any and all senior issues that Dems would normally defend take some noticeable Republican damage.

A lot of these seniors voted Republican because they wanted to nail Obama, minorities, gays, etc. They (the seniors who voted Republican) think their own issues are going to be left untouched. They figure no one would dare let the Republicans loose on Social Security and Medicare. We should disabuse them of this notion in unmistakable terms.

[Shandris]

123. I agree completely.

Vote 'abstain' on every Republican measure involving taxes for a while. Let them taste what it is they're advocating. So long as we keep shielding them by fighting their fights so we can get voted out by them, they'll never learn.

No sympathy. If they want to doom my future, you can guarantee I won't feel the slightest bit of remorse at dooming their present. Leave it up to the seniors to take care of their own, educate their own, and so forth because they don't want to hear from those of us more than a single generation behind.

The only way to know Republican policies is to live them. Not live the watered-down Blame-The-Democrats-When-It-Fucks-Up version that is so readily gobbled up now.

[Romulox]

103. Selfish. nt

[Lugnut]

104. Why do some people lump all seniors together under a Repub banner?

I know several seniors who live in Florida. I also know they didn't vote for any Repubs.

[shanti]

105. not in my family

mom is 78 and still a strong democrat. she liked and voted for obama. mm has been a hard sell for her though. reefer madness was a powerful influence back in the day.

btw, she lives in arizona and cannot stand john mccain.

[jeanpalmer]

107. SS and Medicare have nothing to do with it

Most of them don't know that SS/Medicare are on the chopping block. How would they know? There's very little reporting of it. They won't know until it actually happens. And since their benefits won't be cut, they will see it just like it will be sold -- as a necessary adjustment. Will that turn any of them into Democrats? No because to make the cuts at least a good number of Democrats are going to have to support them, including Obama.

[jwirr]

121. You are right on this - we get most of our information on DU or other

internet sites. Most seniors do not even own a computer. I am exception. My daughters are both computer techs and spent time helping me learn. For many seniors the computer is just one more thing they do not understand.

[GeorgeGist]

108. Fear that Democrats ...

will socialize their benefits?

[VeryConfused]

109. Why do con men target seniors?

[jtown1123]

120. They are easily scared and lack the resources to search online for the truth

This is obviously not true of all seniors, but many only get news from TV, which is horribly biased against Dems.

[cottonseed]

110. Because they think their Rascals magically pay for themselves.

[jtown1123]

111. There a LOT of Dem Seniors. Many were lied to and conned to believe right wing lies about Medicare

cuts in Health Care Reform. Democrats never called them out on these bold faced lies.

[OwnedByFerrets]

114. God, guns and gays. Most are too stupid to see beyond those

three things. Even to the point of voting against their own interests.

[Gin]

115. maybe the "voting machines" elected him....since nothing has

been challenged...and nothing can be verified...it is possible the machines got him elected.

[ladjf]

116. I don't get it either. One would think that seniors would have better

judgement than that. However, the Republican propagandists are masters of spreading fear. Perhaps it's working too well on the seniors who are already likely to be stressed about health issues.

[jtown1123]

119. You got it. Lies lies lies. Seniors are less likely to read independent news online

which actually has the truth.

[snooper2]

122. because a good chunk of them are racist losers

who wish things were like they were back in the 40's and 50's...

No matter, they are dying off soon enough

[Lydia Leftcoast]

127. Do MOST seniors vote R? They certainly don't at my mother's nursing home

They remember the Depression, and they're appalled at the way the Republicanites want to dismantle the New Deal.

My impression is that the seniors who DO vote R are motivated by social issues. They want a world in which dark-skinned people "know their place," everyone is chaste till marriage, and children are seen and not heard.

[Paper Roses]

128. I am a Senior as are most of my friends. None have voted repub.

I believe your statement might be off base. We are a fairly active, literate group. No sitting around on a recliner all day.

I wonder how something like your statement can be proven? If it is true, who came up with the figures, the rethuhs?

I really beg to disagree. Maybe this is true in Florida where there are so many retiree's. Up in my neck of the woods, this is not the case. And yes, I do live on SS only and depend on Medicare. Widow, laid off, can't find job, benefits expired, house worth about half. Things are tough but who made it so? The republicans.

If Congress messes with either, I'll be on the streets with millions of other gray haired old folks, protesting en masse.

[Bluenorthwest]

131. Is every voter in Florida a Senior? Did everyone else vote

for some Democrat? I recall that lots of youthful Democrats in Florida did not even bother to vote for the Democrats on their ballot, favoring a former Republican, Crist.
And I don't live in Florida, but we have seniors in Oregon, and we elected Democrats to the House. How does that work?

[Codeine]

132. Nothing is going to affect them.

Cuts will only hit those coming later. I got mine, jack!

[Bluenorthwest]

134. Do you meet many people who actually do not care about

the younger generation of their relatives? Most elders I meet sacrifice just about everything for them.

[Codeine]

135. By voting for these cretins they demonstrably do not care. nt