Millennials and seniors are spurning Trump. Here's why middle-aged voters are sticking with him

[pstokely]

Source: McClatchy

"White members of this age group are also just more fundamentally conservative than others. A study from Columbia University published last year found that a group of white voters labeled as “Reagan Conservatives,” those born between 1956 and 1980 (meaning they are between 40 and 64 years old now), have for decades been more supportive of Republican presidential candidates than the preceding and succeeding generation.

Many voters’ political identities are formed in their teens through early adulthood, the study noted. For those voters who are currently middle-aged, that meant their political identities were forged at a time when Reagan was declaring it “Morning in America.”

“This powerful imagery and the apparently overwhelming support of the American people no doubt had a powerful impact on the young cohort, who, 16 years old at the time, were squarely in the middle of their peak years of socialization,” wrote the paper’s authors, Yair Ghitza, Andrew Gelman, and Jonathan Auerbach.

Pollsters point to these generational differences as part of the reason Biden is performing better among seniors, because an older generation of more liberal voters have now aged into that category since 2016. That would mean the Democratic nominee’s better showing with senior citizens is at least somewhat artificial, and not reflective of genuine shifts in voter preference."

Read more: https://www.mcclatchydc.com/news/politics-government/election/article245686795.html

[Tones2345]

1. I fit in demographically...

to the tail end of Reagan-era republicans, but I had parents who saw Reagan for what he really represented. I do understand this first-hand though. My brother, who was 12-20 during the Reagan era became born-again and went off the deep right end. I, on the other-hand was a 17 when Bill and Hillary visited my high school during the '92 campaign (I went to Hillary's High School). That was powerful for my experience. Almost 30 years later, my brother and I still don't talk much!

[romana]

2. That's my demographic

I was in high school when Reagan won. My parents were split--Dad for Reagan, Mom for Carter. Many an evening meal spent squabbling over who they should vote for made for interesting times.

One of my pinko college professors a few years later declared to me once about Reagan "that man has an infection in every orifice of his body" which much disdain.