I was watching Fareed Zakaria a while ago, and he was talking about how the older generation (yes, that's us) is controlling elections, or should I say, deciding the outcomes of elections. That's because senior voters (over 65)account for between 55%-77% of all voters. The 77% number refers to off presidential years, while the latter number is for presidential elections. So what that means, is that candidates are looking at senior interests and gearing their campaigns to get their vote.
What we need to do is get younger voters to the polls, but how that is done is the question. I was with my granddaughter not long ago. I told her I was involved in marches and in getting people to the polls. She didn't know how she could do anything.
Young people are not yet thinking about how they will afford a house, what they'll do about health care. Well, some are, but many are not, and somehow we have to get younger people involved in issues that affect them. Until we do that, older people will continue to make a larger impact on decisions.
In 2024, 45% of 18-29 year olds voted. In 2024,55% of 30-49 year olds voted, in 2024 66% of voters 50-64 years old voted, and 77% of people over 65 voted that year. Of course social security, medicare, prescription costs and retirement policy are front of mind for these people, so that's what the politicians talk about. Until younger Americans come out to the polls in greater numbers, senior voting will continue to have a large influence on who's elected.
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