THE OLDER AND WISER TURN AGAINST OBAMA – AT 10:21 A.M. ET:  Obama, already losing independent support, is now seeing his strength erode among older Americans.   From the L.A. Times:

This is turning into a tough election year for Democrats, and most of the reasons are familiar: The economy is stalled, President Obama's popularity is sagging and voters are in an anti-incumbent mood. There's an "enthusiasm gap" too. Republican voters are fired up and ready to vote, while liberals are dispirited.

Now add one more factor: a new generation gap. Voters over the age of 50 are leaning increasingly Republican, according to recent polling —and that includes members of the giant baby boom generation between 50 and 64.

A Pew Research poll released last week found that most voters over 50 say they favor the Republicans in November's congressional election. Voters in their 30's and 40's were evenly split; voters younger than 30 favored the Democrats. That's a big problem for Democrats, in two ways.

First, older voters are a bloc the party doesn't want to lose. They turn out on Election Day more consistently than younger voters — especially in a nonpresidential election, like this year's. About two-thirds of November's voters will be 50 or older.

COMMENT:  The Democrats have made no attempt to appeal to older voters.  They seem almost to feel that the elderly are a burden, a distraction from the young and the young minorities who increasingly make up the base of the party.

Wait 'til older people get the first whiff of health-care rationing.  Then you'll see a defection by older voters from the Democratic Party that could be historic.

July 8, 2010