Reply #18: I think it's quite common for people to get more conservative with age

[RZM]

Obama received 66 percent of the under 30 vote in 2008, but only 45 percent of the over 65 vote.

http://seniorjournal.com/NEWS/Politics/2008/20081105-SenCitWereOnlyAge.htm
http://pewresearch.org/pubs/1031/young-voters-in-the-2008-election

I watched the process unfold with own father over decades. As a young man he was quite liberal. It took a while, but by his 50s his transformation into a libertarian Republican was complete. He's only become more conservative since.

Of course, I've seen the opposite as well. My late grandfather was never all that political for most of his life, though he did vote Republican. For some reason, he did an about face in his late 70s and turned into a firebrand liberal in his final years.

Just look at people like Norman Podhoretz and Irving Kristol. They started out as Trotskyists.