Poll Shows Elderly Voters Abandoning GOP After Extreme Policies

0
1600

Newly available survey data from CNN indicates support for Republicans among voters 65 and older is falling by a startling amount.

In a poll conducted from June 13 to July 13, 49 percent of 65+ respondents indicated they’d support a Democratic contender to represent their Congressional district if suddenly tasked with voting in the midterm elections — and just 47 percent picked the Republican. Those numbers, besides placing Republicans generally behind Democrats among senior voters, show Republicans falling 15 percentage points behind their level of support found in May. In polling from the same source conducted at that earlier point this year, 62 percent of voters 65 and older backed the Republican contender in a hypothetical general election match-up, while just 37 percent supported the Democrat.

One could imagine public hearings of the House panel investigating the Capitol riot that took place in the time since that earlier poll might have something to do with the change, although that’s just conjecture. The now concluded series of hearings provided an opportunity to outline the culpability of Trump and key GOP enablers in the violence at the Capitol. One clear takeaway from the proceedings so far — more are coming later this year — is Trump wasn’t just ignorant. He was choosing to ignore relatively consistent pushes from close aides against the idea of trying to overturn the election, and he was evidently openly accepting of the possibility for violence — something he’s essentially backed up himself with some of his public remarks. After ex-White House aide Cassidy Hutchinson said she heard Trump push for the removal of magnetometers used in the screening process for his January 6 rally, comments the then-president made that day took on a new light.

“The military, the Secret Service. And we want to thank you, and the police law enforcement,” Trump said in his speech that day. “You’re doing a great job. But I’d love it if they could be allowed to come up here with us. Is that possible? Can you just let ’em come up, please?” He was talking about people outside the rally. In the new poll from CNN, which was conducted on the outlet’s behalf by SSRS, both sides were tied among overall respondents when asked which party’s candidate they’d support in the midterms, although Dems led by 11 percent among women. The Democrats led by 15 percent among voters under the age of 45. In the upcoming midterm elections, control of both chambers of Congress will be at stake. If Republicans win the House, Kevin McCarthy — or another Trump-aligned GOP’er — seems set to become Speaker, and what if those willing to vote against certifying key electoral votes control the majority in the House after the next presidential race? What if Trump-aligned Republicans willing to buck the election outcome grow their presence in the Senate too? Serious dangers are possible.