Chart: Older Midterm Voters Swept Republicans Into Power

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November 5, 2014 5:45 pm - NewsBehavingBadly.com

According to exist polls by NBC News, millennials tend to stay at home during midterm elections and vote mainly during Presidential elections.

It was the older voters that swept Republicans into power last night.

In Tuesday’s midterm elections, 37% of voters were over the age of 60 but only 12% were under 30 years old. This 25 point difference is larger than the 16 to 20 point age gap seen in the last three midterms, according to NBC.

The age-disparity in yesterday’s election is nearly as wide as it was in 2010.

NBC reports:

Non-white voters, who lean Democratic on the whole, are another group that usually makes up a smaller share of the midterm electorate than they do in presidential years. The numbers for that group are still preliminary as the 2014 results roll in, but taken together, these trends amount to an uphill climb for Democrats in the midterms.

Blame it on the millennials. You’ll feel better, too.

D.B. Hirsch
D.B. Hirsch is a political activist, news junkie, and retired ad copy writer and spin doctor. He lives in Brooklyn, New York.

50 responses to Chart: Older Midterm Voters Swept Republicans Into Power

  1. mea_mark November 5th, 2014 at 6:12 pm

    The democrats should make it a high priority to deal with the issues the younger generations care about.

    • Khary A November 5th, 2014 at 6:20 pm

      OR…or…we could just destroy the old and tell the young to get their stuff in gear or it’s the knackers yard.

      I don’t always give great advice…i see that now.

      • Anomaly 100 November 5th, 2014 at 6:28 pm

        Put ’em all in FEMA camps!

    • Tommy6860 November 5th, 2014 at 6:30 pm

      What do you think about compulsory voting?

      • mea_mark November 5th, 2014 at 6:38 pm

        I think offering a carrot should be tried before beating them with a stick.

        • Tommy6860 November 5th, 2014 at 6:42 pm

          True since voting is a choice. My fear is though, that since more GOP governors took states and the GOP increased their holds on those respective state houses, that they create voting laws and rules that favor their party. I have a feeling that no matter how well dems do in 2020, that they will not be able to amend the gerrymandering the GOP did in 2010 and the GOP may not lose the house for decades to come.

          • tiredoftea November 5th, 2014 at 7:19 pm

            Dems have to win state governor’s and legislatures to be in position to control the re-districting after the 2020 census. They should be working now to force citizen re-districting commission’s to take that away from any state repub’s who are still controlling states.

          • Tommy6860 November 5th, 2014 at 9:13 pm

            Exactly, and they were not doing that in 2012 when the GOP took states by storm then, in spite of national dem victories for congress and Obama’s re-election. It just got worse in this election. For them to take back the states may mean spending beyond what they need for the 2016 -18 and 20 cycles. I feel they already lost on this bigger picture and the re-redistricting may be too little too late.

      • tiredoftea November 5th, 2014 at 7:17 pm

        Yup, it’s needed.

    • StoneyCurtisll November 5th, 2014 at 6:59 pm

      Like getting the younger generation to actually vote…

  2. Obewon November 5th, 2014 at 6:41 pm

    If the draft were reinstated, youngsters would vote every time to oust GOP Warlords.

  3. burqa November 5th, 2014 at 6:41 pm

    The vote of an older voter counts just as much as the vote of a millennial.
    The Democrats did a lousy job of getting out the vote and got whupped because of it.
    It was not just older voters.
    Like so much that takes place in human affairs, it was more complex than that, and we need to get out of the rut of trying to simplify things this way.

    It was also President Obama being linked to, and pulling down the vote for Democrats because they were too damned chicken to stand up and say, “Yeah, I voted with the president. I’m glad I did, because we got x, y, and z done.” Instead the Democrats let the GOP club them and didn’t hardly defend themselves. They just stood there and took it.
    It was also Democrats letting the less-popular party get away with framing the debate and putting them on the run. The Democrats should have done a better job of identifying why the GOP is so unpopular and capitalizing on that.
    It was also the Republicans not running a bunch of Pee Party kooks the way they’ve done in the past couple of elections. The GOP ran better campaigns. The GOP slugged the Democrats in the kisser and the Democrats didn’t slug back.

    The way the Democrats ran reminded me of that disastrous campaign run by John Kerry where he conceded so many states to Bush that Bush only had to pull something like 17 or 18% of the votes elsewhere to win. Kerry stood there like a boxer with his hands at his side while Bush clobbered him in the face. Bush ripped Kerry’s medals for heroism off Kerry’s chest and Bush stomped them in the mud and Kerry just stood there letting Bush get away with it.

    • StoneyCurtisll November 5th, 2014 at 7:06 pm

      Great comment!~!

    • OldLefty November 5th, 2014 at 7:09 pm

      All this is true, and would be even more true if the media focused on issues instead of the horse race.

      Why did not saying who she voted for “disqualify” Grimes, but saying he would repeal “Obamacare but not Kynect did not “disqualify” McConnell.

      I felt that ever since they predicted a big win for Republicans in 2014, back in Sept 2012, the media treated them as though they were the ones who’s access they had to value.

      “Kerry stood there like a boxer with his hands at his side while Bush clobbered him in the face….”???

      Really???
      I thought that Kerry always looked head and shoulders above Bush, but I also thought politics stopped at the water’s edge and that people like Jerome Corsi did not get air time on “news” networks.

  4. StoneyCurtisll November 5th, 2014 at 6:58 pm

    All is not lost…
    We have got to get it together…
    Cause there is “Something in The Air”…

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RTZoJ01FpD8

  5. Red Eye Robot November 5th, 2014 at 7:11 pm

    Or more accurately Younger voters were betrayed by the Democrats and Obama and they abandoned them en masse. There is no positive spin you guys can put on this loss. You guys treated your voters like they were stupid and they sat it out. You tried to sell the idea that the senate GOP was obstructionist, your voters saw right through it. You tried to sell your war on women, didn’t work, You tried to paint the GOP as racist, didn’t work. You lost 3 governors in the bluest of blue states. You rallied behind halfwit Wendy Davis, he campaign was embarrassing, but not as much as her loss. (Still think phony baloney indictment of Rick Perry was a good idea?) You guys lost because you assumed the voters were idiots and would fall for your hamfisted misdirection

    • StoneyCurtisll November 5th, 2014 at 7:15 pm

      Derp.

    • tiredoftea November 5th, 2014 at 7:15 pm

      “You guys lost because you assumed the voters were idiots and would fall for your hamfisted misdirection” Umm, no. This is an historically correct result. Rember W, the war criminal, in 2006? Same thing. Dems crushed the mid-terms. But, you just go ahead and keep bleating thoughtlessly, we enjoy it. We are laughing at you.

      • Obewon November 5th, 2014 at 9:06 pm

        Redeye parroting FNC is like water missing its teabagg. At least when sheep are shaved they enrich sheepherders!

    • Kick Frenzy November 5th, 2014 at 7:15 pm

      If you look at the chart above, the young vote was no more or less than it has been for the past 2 cycles, which includes Bush and Obama.

      The wasn’t anything to “sell” about obstructionism, it happened all the time and was a priority since the president was inaugurated.
      There’s nothing to sell on the “war on women” (although I prefer not to use “war”), Republicans voted against women at every single opportunity.

      We lost because Dems tend to stay home in mid-terms and Republicans were fired up and had an increased senior turn out.
      Also, fear… Repubs have been great at peddling fear.

    • fancypants November 5th, 2014 at 7:22 pm

      since its been said by the president that 2/3rds of the people didn’t vote ? you can call this a political miracle. Enjoy it while you can because the new addition to the senate from iowa sounds like a REAL nut job who is already got her goals on ISIL. So much for representing the best interest of the I.O.W.A. people ….. MAKE EM SQeeeeel

    • Red Mann November 6th, 2014 at 12:38 am

      Still disconnected from reality, I see. Everything you said is just backwards.

  6. StoneyCurtisll November 5th, 2014 at 7:19 pm

    Not going to waste my time responding to ‘red eye robot”..
    it is an effort in futility..
    (but it never hurts to vent)..:)

    • tiredoftea November 5th, 2014 at 7:20 pm

      It’s kinda more fun with the snappy music video’s you provide!

      • StoneyCurtisll November 5th, 2014 at 7:21 pm

        Thanks~!

        • tiredoftea November 5th, 2014 at 7:24 pm

          Music, dammit!

          • fancypants November 5th, 2014 at 7:30 pm

            Dedicated to our new republican senate

            http://youtu.be/hftgytmgQgE

          • tiredoftea November 5th, 2014 at 7:34 pm

            Ahh, yes! I feel better now! This goes down well, especially since Jack Bruce died a few weeks ago.

          • StoneyCurtisll November 5th, 2014 at 7:36 pm

            Say it aint so…

          • tiredoftea November 5th, 2014 at 7:48 pm

            What? That Jack died? Sorry to break that to you, but yes.

            http://jackbruce.com/

          • StoneyCurtisll November 5th, 2014 at 7:57 pm

            Bummer.

            RIP Jack Bruce

            https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e_Dwoorgbsg

          • fancypants November 5th, 2014 at 7:37 pm

            you can substitute the words to “strange crew” at will.

          • StoneyCurtisll November 5th, 2014 at 7:40 pm

            Did you say Substitute?…
            https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eswQl-hcvU0

          • fancypants November 5th, 2014 at 7:49 pm

            that’s right people We are stuck with cousin kevin for at least 2 years

            http://youtu.be/tXNGIKuCiv8

          • StoneyCurtisll November 5th, 2014 at 8:00 pm

            High Five…
            I was thinking of Keith Moon as Uncle Ernie..

            https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hFhO7EU08Tg

          • fancypants November 5th, 2014 at 8:02 pm

            I was going to post Ernie but thought it a little over the top 😀

          • StoneyCurtisll November 5th, 2014 at 8:05 pm

            As if Cousin Kevin wast “over the top”…;)
            Still one of my all time favorite albums..Tommy…

          • fancypants November 5th, 2014 at 8:11 pm

            awww come on the cricket bat at the end sent the message home

          • fancypants November 5th, 2014 at 8:35 pm

            one of the 2 favorite who records I have. Also have the video

          • StoneyCurtisll November 5th, 2014 at 7:45 pm

            Excellent choice..

    • rg9rts November 6th, 2014 at 4:16 am

      I think that is the best approach annoying nit that it is

  7. KABoink_after_wingnut_hacker November 5th, 2014 at 8:19 pm

    Fox News has done it’s job!
    Fear and propaganda is an old and proven formula in which they excel.

    • Obewon November 5th, 2014 at 9:26 pm

      47% of self described conservatives get their information from one source Fox News. While liberals, moderates and progressives average no less than 4+ news sources. 47% of those identifying themselves as “consistently conservative” cite Fox News as where they get their news on politics and government. Local radio (11%), local TV (5%), the local newspaper (3%) and Google News (3%) follow. http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/conservatives-overwhelmingly-prefer-fox-news-report-article-1.1981876

      • Lukithia Chop Evans November 11th, 2014 at 1:30 am

        I’m conservative and I search every where for my news. But doesn’t it make sense that conservatives seek out news and other mefia that is conservative while liberals look to libetal media. If I’m Christian I’m not going to watch Muslim religious channels for the bulk of my time. Our stance dictates who we seek out not who we hear dictates our stance.

        • Obewon November 11th, 2014 at 3:15 am

          You seem to think ”facts have a liberal bias!’ Good luck trying to find your feigned corporate liberal media. That sounds like the Palinbrawl channel is calling for you to see Sarah blowout on Murdoch’s NY Post, WSJ and 200+ other MSM outlets including ABC and Rusty’s the racist Limbaugh’s bankrupt ABC Radio/ Cumulus media.

  8. Red Mann November 6th, 2014 at 12:44 am

    We will probably see more of this as the boomers age and many elderly drift toward authoritarianism. Most of the people that I was in the Navy with decades ago and were somewhat, or even a lot, liberal have turned into RWNJs. I’m 68 and it well be a cold day in hell before I ever support any of the RW pricks.

  9. rg9rts November 6th, 2014 at 4:15 am

    Total BullShait……those that didn’t vote are responsible…We turned back our bagger challenge for the second time… she was proud to be a radical…Good riddance Nan

    • R.J. Carter November 10th, 2014 at 12:16 pm

      It can be viewed either way — the government is the result of the people who voted, or the people who didn’t vote.

      Which is why Ferguson’s political structure is mostly white.

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