The Age Gap and preference for Democratic Nominee--a poll. Explanations?

[andym]

The latest poll from Morning Consult shows a large age gap in candidate preferences. 70% of Democrats over age 45 favor Joe Biden, while 57% of those younger than 45 favor Bernie Sanders.
https://morningconsult.com/2020/03/06/democratic-primary-polling-joe-biden-bernie-sanders/


So what is your preference and to which age group do you belong?

Please post any comments on why you think there is an age gap.

24 votes, 0 passes | Time left: Unlimited
	I prefer Biden and am 45 and older
	18 (75%)
	I prefer Biden and younger than 45
	3 (13%)
	I prefer Sanders and am 45 and older
	3 (13%)
	I prefer Sanders and younger than 45
	0 (0%)
	I prefer Gabbard and am 45 and older
	0 (0%)
	I prefer Gabbard and younger than 45
	0 (0%)
	No preference
	0 (0%)
	Other
	0 (0%)
	0 DU members did not wish to select any of the options provided.
Show usernames Disclaimer: This is an Internet poll

[DownriverDem]

1. Sanders Ceiling

is in the 30s. He has never tried to increase his supporters. Folks support Bernie because of all the freebies he's offering. The problem is Bernie will not help down ballot candidates that will be needed to win the House and Senate. Without the House and Senate, Bernie's promises of freebies will never happen.

[NurseJackie]

2. Are you referring to 30's to mean age-range or percentile?

I guess either one makes sense.

[DownriverDem]

8. Percentile

It's been studied and that's his level of support.

[NurseJackie]

10. He really can't break through that ceiling. It's all over for him.

[Turin_C3PO]

3. I'm with Sanders and Warren ideologically.

But I’m with Biden because I like him personally and think he has the best shot at trouncing Trump. I have problems with aspects of Sanders’ personality and his small subset of toxic supporters. I did support Sanders in 2016 but then threw my support to Clinton when it became clear that she was the nominee.

I’m 36 years old.

[highplainsdem]

4. Someone should point out that most DUers are older. As various polls and questions about how old

DUers are have shown over the years.

https://upload.democraticunderground.com/10181050794


https://www.democraticunderground.com/100210899268

[andym]

5. Good point

The poll so far really bears that out. It will be interesting to see how the minority of DU that is under 45 votes in this poll.

[DownriverDem]

9. Could it be

because they are most likely retired?

[yardwork]

11. It's partly because DU was founded in 2001.

I joined DU in 2004, so I've been posting here for 16 years. I was in my 40s then. Lots of other DUers have been here for more than a decade, and we've aged as time passed.

Consider this. A person who joined DU in 2002 at the age of 35 is now 53.

[PETRUS]

6. Just before clicking on your OP, I read something posted in General Discussion

Here:

https://www.democraticunderground.com/100213051588

I think the article from that OP makes some pertinent observations.

[andym]

7. Very interesting article

too bad the original is behind a paywall.

[andym]

12. One explanation: the Ad Council strongly propagandized against socialism in the 40's through 90's

There was a strong effort to demonize not only communism, but socialism and even European social democracy by numerous organization, with the government founded, industry-supported Ad Council being perhaps the most important.

https://theconversation.com/how-socialism-became-un-american-through-the-ad-councils-propaganda-campaigns-132335
"How socialism became un-American through the Ad Council’s propaganda campaigns"

So younger folks (<~40) have been exposed far less to negative views of even social democracy than older folks-- which would explain the age gap fairly well, as they would be far more open to Sanders' agenda than older Democrats.

[PETRUS]

13. Yes, I think that's definitely a factor.

Good article! I grew up with cold war propaganda. As a child, I wasn't aware of the coordinated efforts behind it, although I did read a bit about that later in life.

Maybe it's the way I was raised, or maybe I'm a born skeptic, but even as a kid the red scare stuff smelled a little fishy. It's not that I doubted that the USSR (for example) had its ugly, totalitarian side, it's that I also saw the racist, sexist, imperialist side of US capitalism being waved away, or denied, or swept under the rug while "we" were busy trying to lay claim to the moral high ground.

[andym]

14. There are those who saw through the red scare and its aftermath like you and Bernie

Many of those who came of age in the 60's represented the first large group of Americans to break free of the red scare, but it appears that these were only a minority with a large number of them falling back into the prevailing majority group think. Bernie Sanders is an exemplar of a person who came of age in the 60's who maintained his beliefs despite strong headwinds.

The propagandizing against socialism in that era helped Reagan gain power and influence, as it was only a short step from believing that American social programs were all too close in nature to the European social democrats who were too close to socialism etc. The other problem is that pursuing self-interest is perhaps the strongest human motivation, which feeds conservatism.

I think the age gap can only be overcome by waiting until fewer people who have been exposed to the propaganda and societal norms are around--maybe 10-20 years, unless there are exceptional circumstances. Trump's egregious behavior creates an opportunity, but it appears that a majority of Democratic voters strongly oppose or are afraid that others oppose strong government-based programs like M4A. Even Elizabeth Warren who I believe took a potentially effective approach in trying to combine strongly promoting capitalism with the same social programs as Bernie was defeated by moderate attacks on her "leftist" proposals--she had another problem in that she also had to overcome: sexism, which further weakened her candidacy.

In the near future, someone taking Warren's approach-- strongly promoting capitalism at the same time as promoting social democracy may be able to gain traction and unify the Democratic party as well as achieve a majority in the country.

[PETRUS]

15. Recently, I listened to a lecture by Richard Wolff.

He mentioned that when he was pursuing his degrees in economics in the 1960s (at Harvard, Stanford, and Yale), the entire curriculum was neoclassical and Keynesian. Alternate perspectives were strictly out of bounds during the height of the cold war, and he had to take it on himself to read Marx and other critics of capitalism. It didn't seem as though he was trying to convince the audience that capitalism is bad, or that socialism is good, just that if one is truly trying to understand something, it doesn't make sense to pay attention to only one side of the story - one needs to hear out the champions, the dissenters, and everyone in between. In his opinion, the taboo on considering critiques of capitalism has only recently been lifted, and he considers that to be a positive development.