The following is presented as part of The Columbian’s Opinion content, which offers a point of view in order to provoke thought and debate of civic issues. Opinions represent the viewpoint of the author. Unsigned editorials represent the consensus opinion of The Columbian’s editorial board, which operates independently of the news department.
The mystery of why older voters are polling strongly for Joe Biden is not a mystery at all. True, they tend to be conservative and have traditionally preferred Republican presidential candidates. White voters over 65 voted for Donald Trump in both 2016 and 2020.
The reason these conservative voters appear to be for Biden this time is simple. Biden is the conservative candidate.
Opinion polls show that the top issue for these voters is not immigration or the economy. It’s preservation of the democracy. They’ve been raised to revere a system that respects the outcome of the vote. When their candidate loses, they expect that person to concede. When the incumbent loses, they expect a peaceful transfer of power.
The violent rampage at the Capitol, egged on by Trump, couldn’t have provided a more shocking example of the country they’ve known coming under attack. Along with Sept. 11, 2001, they remember exactly what they were doing on Jan. 6, 2021.
A Quinnipiac University poll has Biden beating Trump among voters 65 or older by 12 points. A New York Times/Siena poll gives Biden a 9-point lead among likely voters 65 and up.
Donald Trump is an anti-democratic authoritarian. He seems foreign in a country that has calmly accepted election outcomes. Trump’s mantra against his 2016 opponent, “Lock her up,” alarmed even voters who didn’t care for Hillary Clinton. Most older white voters may have looked past such bizarre threats on a political opponent in earlier presidential contests. After Jan. 6, they could no longer.
“Democracy — we’re scared to death we’re going to lose it,” Judy Brodd, a 78-year-old active in Door County, Wis., politics, told The Wall Street Journal. “It’s not because of us, but it’s for our grandchildren and our children.”
There are other reasons this group is moving toward Biden. Older voters are more tuned in to the more traditional fact-based media. They consume more news altogether.
Actually, Biden is doing well among better informed voters of all ages. They know about his investments in chip making and infrastructure. They know that he capped the cost of insulin in Medicare at $35 a month. And that cut in price got the three leading insulin manufacturers to cap the price of insulin at $35 for younger Americans on private insurance.
Older people use a lot of medicine, and Biden has lowered other drug prices in Medicare. During Trump’s presidency, there was serious talk about cutting Medicare and Social Security. Biden and fellow Democrats are determined to keep the programs going with new revenues. Biden would let Trump’s 2017 tax cuts for the very wealthy expire on schedule starting in 2025 but preserve the parts covering people making less than $400,000. Trump vows to extend all the tax cuts.
Older Americans also have a more nuanced view of aging. Biden at 81 is only three years older than Trump. Biden has slowed down but is still sharp.
As Gussie Farris, an 86-year-old in Grand Rapids, Mich., told CNN, “Because Trump is big and loud, he doesn’t come off as old as maybe Biden does, but he’s way less capable in the brain area.”
The Greatest Generation fought in World War II and saved the world from fascism. Its aging children now have an opportunity to do the same.
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