Seniors abandon GOP over Iraq

[bigtree]

November 4, 2006

By Noam N. Levey
Los Angeles Times

BATESVILLE, Ind. — Republicans, struggling to mobilize social conservatives and other GOP-leaning groups ahead of Tuesday's elections, are on the verge of losing a critical voting block over the war in Iraq: senior citizens.

Americans age 65 and older were crucial to President Bush's re-election, backing the president by 5 percentage points over his Democratic challenger.

But this year, the picture is different. Though unhappiness with the war is fueling discontent across the electorate, no group is more concerned than seniors, 65 percent of whom said in a recent Los Angeles Times/Bloomberg poll that the war has not been worth the cost.

By comparison, 57 percent of all registered voters said the war was not worth it, according to the poll, whose findings paralleled a recent USA Today/Gallup survey.

Because older Americans vote more faithfully than any other group, their unhappiness with the war could mean trouble for the GOP . . .

http://www.dailytidings.com/2006/1104/stories/1104_campaign_seniors.php



http://journals.democraticunderground.com/bigtree

[BattyDem]

1. I guess all those veterans from Korea and WW II will now be classified by the GOP as ...

"cut-and-run cowards." :eyes: Those seniors remember what it was like when the ENTIRE COUNTRY made sacrifices during a war. I can't imagine them being happy with the GOP spending billions of dollars over there, when they have trouble paying for food and medicine over here - and the Halliburton "fat cats" get richer!

[bluestateguy]

2. They can tell a bullshit war from a war that needs to be fought

They have the life experience to know this.

[texpatriot2004]

3. It's about damn time nm

[MADem]

4. This pic on the front page of the NYT doesn't inspire much of the "we're winning Iraq" crap either

[applegrove]

5. Greatest for the Greatest Generation!

[Trajan]

6. The Greatest Generation .....

I suppose even my dead John Birch-lovin Father might have paused with this bunch ....

Maybe .....

[mitchtv]

7. Privatizing Social Security

started the large scale defections. Medicare part D insured the permanancy.Iraq is a bonus

[cobaindrain]

8. national direct mail campaign intends to bring them back

I don't know if anybody else has received these hideous things.

"Democrats plan to give social security to illegal aliens"

this crap is polluting my mailbox every day, no doubt aimed at seniors.

[beltanefauve]

9. Dissatisfaction with Iraq

but the article doesn't address the "War on Terror". My parents are living in a white, gated golf community in Florida (the "gated" part is key) where they live in fear of terrorists hiding behind every palm tree and those "tax-and-spend" Democrats who are out to take their money. There's also a strong, "I got mine, screw you" component to this place. I swear, Osama Bin Laden on the TV the week before the 2004 election was highly effective here.

[MiniMe]

10. The prescription drug program is the biggest reason IMHO

The seniors as a group were all hurt by this program. The only exceptions are the ones that have their own prescription program. Wasn't this the vote that they held open until the middle of the night while DeLay twisted arms to get it passed?

[Vinca]

11. And lots of them are hitting the old donut hole just about . . .

November 7. Boo hoo, Georgie. Boo hoo.:cry: