Older Voters and the 2008 Election

Autor/in	Binstock, Robert H.
Titel	Older Voters and the 2008 Election
Quelle	In: Gerontologist, 49 (2009) 5, S.697-701 (5 Seiten) PDF als Volltext Verfügbarkeit
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Zeitschriftenaufsatz
ISSN	0016-9013
DOI	10.1093/geront/gnp100
Schlagwörter	Individual Characteristics; Voting; Older Adults; Age Differences; Influences; Gerontology; Surveys; Elections; Political Campaigns; Political Candidates; Political Issues; Political Attitudes; Cohort Analysis + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? Personality characteristic; Personality traits; Persönlichkeitsmerkmal; Abstimmung; Älterer Erwachsener; Age; Difference; Age difference; Altersunterschied; Influence; Einfluss; Einflussfaktor; Gerontologie; Survey; Umfrage; Befragung; Election; Wahl; Politischer Faktor; Political attitude; Politische Einstellung; Kohortenanalyse
Abstract	Purpose: In the 2008 presidential election, a majority of older persons voted for John McCain, the loser. The purposes of this report are to help illuminate why older voters were the only age-group that gave a majority to McCain and to delineate some ongoing issues in the analysis of older persons' voting behavior. Methods: Analysis was undertaken by mining raw data from the 2008 Edison-Mitofsky national Election Day exit poll, as well as compilations from that poll that were published by various media that finance it. Results: Republican leanings of the Eisenhower birth cohort that is presently among those aged 65 years and older were a factor, whereas the immediately succeeding younger cohorts did not manifest the same partisan predilection. Positive self-identification with the 72-year -old McCain by voters aged 65-74 years seems to have been another factor, although there was no indication of such age identification among those aged 60-64 years and 75 years and older. Race may have been a factor, although all groups of White voters aged 30 years and older gave McCain a substantial majority, whereas the youngest cohort of Whites, aged 18-29 years, favored Obama. Implications: In the study of age-group voting behavior, ongoing attention is needed to cohort and period effects, as well as candidates' contrasting individual characteristics--in addition to possible effects of campaign issues. (As Provided).
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Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC
Update	2017/4/10