Question regarding Voter Demographics

[corksean]

Does anyone know if there is any significant difference between Republican / Democratic Voters regarding Age Group?
Are older people more likely to vote Repug or not?

[imenja]

1. under 30 years olds are most likely to vote Democrat

Until the last two presidential elections, Democrats had won the over 65 vote. Bush took that group in both elections. If you can locate one of the the sites that has the exit poll results from the last election, it provides that sort of info.
Although the media made no mention of this, income seemed to be a significant variable in whether someone voted Democrat or Republican. We've been told that party loyalty doesn't depend on wealth, and that if someone goes to church or other religious services once a week or more, that is the greatest predictor they will vote Republican. Yet according to these exit polls (which may or may not be flawed) there was a clear correlation between wealth and Republican voting. I was surprised to see how great of a percentage of the electorate upper income voters turned out to be.

[corksean]

2. Thanks.

[American Tragedy]

4. Correct. Unfortunately, we are a notoriously unreliable demographic

in terms of actually showing up at the polls. Even if youth turnout were nearly perfect, we are overwhelmingly outnumbered by the older age groups, especially the baby boomers.

Actually, one of the most powerful indicators of a voter's affiliation is their marital status, especially for women. Married women were far more likely to vote Bush than single women.

[imenja]

5. unmarried women

yes, and unmarried women vote Democratic, but are the single group least likely to vote. Being unmarried myself, I've never understood that.

[American Tragedy]

8. I don't understand that either. We have a huge stake in this thing.

But it goes beyond how it affects me. I would care even if I were somehow impervious to all the actions of the government. It's a part of my world. Now that my eyes are fully opened, I can't possibly imagine returning to the apathy and blindness of my early teenage years.

It's like one of those computer-generated images that has a 3-D image hidden in the dots. Once you've figured it out, you can never look at it again without seeing the image. I'll never be able to ignore what's happening in my country, no matter how wealthy and secure I may become.

[BurgherHoldtheLies]

6. Well, I may look like a W supporter by demographics & registration...

But I was not. I believe the whole distortion about 'security moms' was another media creation. Upper middle class married with children mothers found Kerry's plan for restoring credibility and positive relations with our allies a FAR SUPERIOR plan in the war on terror. Fighting terrorism is based on obtaining credible information...how does alienating virtually every ally on the planet help fight the war on terror!?!?!? The preying on our fears after 911 for political advantage was vile and repugnant. Oh, and let's not forget to mention the "borrow and spend, spend, spend" mentality that has put our country into staggering debt that will take our children a lifetime to pay off.

[imenja]

7. if we are to believe the exit polls

White women went for Bush, 55% to 44% for Kerry. Voters earning over 50,000 a year likewise voted for Bush, %56 to %43. Working women favored Kerry 51% to 48% for Bush, and women who don't work outside of the home voted %53. Married people voted 57% for Bush, and the unmarried voted 58% for Kerry.
The security mom's phenomenon was one of those stories the media makes up to package elections, but there does seem to be a correlation between income, marriage, and voting patterns.

http://www.cnn.com/ELECTION/2004/pages/results/states/US/P/00/epolls.0.html

[imenja]

3. Data from CNN.com

VOTE BY AGE 2004

TOTAL Bush (2000) Kerry Nader

18-29 (17%) 45% n/a 54% 0%

30-44 (29%) 53% +4 46% 1%

45-59 (30%) 51% +2 48% 0%

60 and Older(24%) 54% +7 46% 0%

It looks like I was wrong about the 2000 senior vote. It apparently went to Gore.

http://www.cnn.com/ELECTION/2004/pages/results/states/US/P/00/epolls.0.html