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Older Voters and the 2004 Election

Correspondence: Address correspondence to Robert H. Binstock, PhD, Professor of Aging, Health, and Society, School of Medicine, Room WG-43, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH 44106. E-mail: robert.binstock{at}case.edu

For several decades, candidates in U.S. presidential election campaigns have articulated policy issues designed to appeal to older Americans. However, exit-poll data have consistently shown that older people have distributed their votes among presidential candidates in roughly the same proportions as the electorate as a whole, favoring the winner of the popular vote. This happened again in 2004. The percentage of older persons voting for George Bush was slightly more than the national average, suggesting that old-age policy issues are not the predominant factors affecting older voters.

Key Words: Age-group voting • Elections • Politics of aging • Voting behavior