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demmiblue

(36,744 posts)
Wed Nov 5, 2014, 12:52 PM Nov 2014

CHART: The 2014 Electorate Was Really, Really Old

Source: TPM



Older voters helped propel Republicans to sweeping victories Tuesday in Senate and gubernatorial races nationwide, according to exit polls from NBC News.

The disparity between the under-30 and over-60 was the widest it's been in a decade, those polls found. The seniors comprised 37 percent of the electorate; young people made up 12 percent.

That was even more extreme than 2010, another great Republican year, when the split was 32 percent over 60 and 12 percent under 30.

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/exit-polls-2014-electorate-old
24 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
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CHART: The 2014 Electorate Was Really, Really Old (Original Post) demmiblue Nov 2014 OP
Yep it was us god damn boomers again. We voted upaloopa Nov 2014 #1
I keep hearing this -- that the repubs are old. oldandhappy Nov 2014 #2
Sadly, this is only the early stage of Idiocracy in America. Zorra Nov 2014 #3
That ignores the 51% who were between 30 and 60. MineralMan Nov 2014 #4
Gen-X - of course we don't count. cemaphonic Nov 2014 #7
It's a false way to look at the election. MineralMan Nov 2014 #10
When You Add the Voting Preferences of Each Group-Its Ball Game Stallion Nov 2014 #5
Yeah, I was the youngest there. Xyzse Nov 2014 #6
Same here... LP2K12 Nov 2014 #18
Well, I came in at night, so I don't know. Xyzse Nov 2014 #19
I did as well. LP2K12 Nov 2014 #20
Yep, going in the morning is hard. Xyzse Nov 2014 #23
The Kochs have done a good job brainwashing us Millennials... Odin2005 Nov 2014 #8
Odin2005!!! Zorra Nov 2014 #14
Hiya! Odin2005 Nov 2014 #16
So in Midterm Elections, we have people that are too old to give a shit about the future of America AZ Progressive Nov 2014 #9
And the majority of voters aren't even on the chart. MineralMan Nov 2014 #12
Oh my God. Old people are killing all the young people! Tommy_Carcetti Nov 2014 #11
So, what I'm seeing is that the Millennials need to get busy MineralMan Nov 2014 #13
What I'm seeing is that DEMOCRATS need to get busy and get their supporters to the polls JHB Nov 2014 #15
Yes, of course. I've been calling for broad GOTV efforts for years. MineralMan Nov 2014 #17
which means the turnout was really low. n/t. okieinpain Nov 2014 #21
In GENERAL, the old people who came of age in the Eisenhower years -- yech. Arugula Latte Nov 2014 #22
Had this discussion with someone last nite - how could it be that the Hobby Lobby decision didn't jillan Nov 2014 #24

upaloopa

(11,417 posts)
1. Yep it was us god damn boomers again. We voted
Wed Nov 5, 2014, 12:55 PM
Nov 2014

when we should have stayed home. Next young person who blames me for their fucked up life can go pound sand.

oldandhappy

(6,719 posts)
2. I keep hearing this -- that the repubs are old.
Wed Nov 5, 2014, 12:58 PM
Nov 2014

I worked my precinct. Granted, it is senior mobile home parks. But the facts are -- Dems are old also! I have folk in their 90's still voting. They vote by mail, so probably do not show up on in-person polls. I do not know the source of the polls and have nothing to say re the under 30 folk.

Zorra

(27,670 posts)
3. Sadly, this is only the early stage of Idiocracy in America.
Wed Nov 5, 2014, 01:04 PM
Nov 2014

Thirty years from now the film Idiocracy will be regarded as a warmhearted documentary from the good old days.

MineralMan

(146,192 posts)
4. That ignores the 51% who were between 30 and 60.
Wed Nov 5, 2014, 01:23 PM
Nov 2014

A majority of voters were between 30 and 60. It's amazing that the chart completely ignores that group, don't you think? Does that age group not count?

I'm 69 years old. I always vote for Democrats. Always have. My wife is 58, and so does she.

It's not just age. The majority of voters are in the middle age group.

cemaphonic

(4,138 posts)
7. Gen-X - of course we don't count.
Wed Nov 5, 2014, 01:30 PM
Nov 2014

Political/cultural analysis always pits things as Boomer vs Millennial.

MineralMan

(146,192 posts)
10. It's a false way to look at the election.
Wed Nov 5, 2014, 01:38 PM
Nov 2014

The majority of voters are middle aged, frankly. by ignoring those voters, such charts paint an incorrect picture. Yes, there are a lot of boomers who vote Republican, but there also many who are Democrats who vote in every election like clockwork. Their votes count, too. As for millennials, they don't all vote for Democrats either. The divisions in that middle-aged majority are the important ones, since they are a majority of voters.

I hate it when someone just focuses on half of the electorate and draws ageist conclusions based on that. That's what the chart in the OP represents, and it doesn't even show how the two groups voted, just that they did.

Charts like that suck, because they don't have all of the information shown. It's impossible to draw any conclusions from raw vote counts of two disparate age groups while ignoring the largest group of all.

LP2K12

(885 posts)
20. I did as well.
Wed Nov 5, 2014, 02:05 PM
Nov 2014

Couldn't it make it prior to work. Worked until around 4:30 and I commute 40 miles each way to work. Fought traffic and got to the polling station before close.

Odin2005

(53,521 posts)
8. The Kochs have done a good job brainwashing us Millennials...
Wed Nov 5, 2014, 01:34 PM
Nov 2014

with edgy Libertarian lies about how voting is useless and both parts are exactly the same.

Just go to Reddit and see the shit posted there, most of the posters there are Millennials.

AZ Progressive

(3,411 posts)
9. So in Midterm Elections, we have people that are too old to give a shit about the future of America
Wed Nov 5, 2014, 01:37 PM
Nov 2014

being a three times larger voting bloc than the people who have to care the most about the long term future of America.

MineralMan

(146,192 posts)
12. And the majority of voters aren't even on the chart.
Wed Nov 5, 2014, 01:39 PM
Nov 2014

That's the group between 30 and 60 years old. They're the majority. Why leave them out?

MineralMan

(146,192 posts)
13. So, what I'm seeing is that the Millennials need to get busy
Wed Nov 5, 2014, 01:51 PM
Nov 2014

and get their demographic to the polls. Old folks vote. They will always vote. The middle-aged folks who make up the missing majority in that chart also vote. The only ones not voting are the under 30 crowd. Why are they not voting? That's the question to be asking. Get them out to vote, if you're in that age group. That's my suggestion.

JHB

(37,130 posts)
15. What I'm seeing is that DEMOCRATS need to get busy and get their supporters to the polls
Wed Nov 5, 2014, 01:57 PM
Nov 2014

A comprehensive, nuts-and-bolts program to GOTV that isn't tied to any one candidate, so it doesn't flag in elections that don't have the focus and drama of a presidential election.

 

Arugula Latte

(50,566 posts)
22. In GENERAL, the old people who came of age in the Eisenhower years -- yech.
Wed Nov 5, 2014, 02:09 PM
Nov 2014

My parents cohorts (late 70s, early 80s) -- yikes. They turned out to be a nasty, greedy, racist bunch who are very susceptible to Foxlike propaganda. Yes, yes, exceptions abound.

I can't say much for my Reagan Youth generation, either.

jillan

(39,451 posts)
24. Had this discussion with someone last nite - how could it be that the Hobby Lobby decision didn't
Wed Nov 5, 2014, 02:31 PM
Nov 2014

bring out the young women voters???


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