1 of 1- Brady Bunch
- Exchanger
Offline - Registered: 1/29/2015
- Posts: 862
Bernie Sanders knows he needs to get older voters
Bernie says he doesn't know why he isn't doing well with older voters. I have my ideas as to why he isn' soing well with them, but I would like to hear what others think are the reasons why he is losing the older voters by a wide margin.
- tennyson
- Exchanger
Offline
- Registered: 2/06/2015
- Posts: 6,654
Re: Bernie Sanders knows he needs to get older voters
Pretty much the older voters referenced in the article (65 and up) ALREADY HAVE a lot of the things that Bernie is on the stump for and/or many of his issues are not relevant to them. In general I think the 65 up crowd is not looking of the next revolution in politics.
"Do not confuse motion and progress, A rocking horse keeps moving but does not make any progress"
- Just Fred
- Duke of Cortona
Offline
- Registered: 1/29/2015
- Posts: 3,863
Re: Bernie Sanders knows he needs to get older voters
Tennyson is right. Generally, older people don't like change, and I'm guessing many even fear it. This not only true of politics, but in many areas of societal life from music to technology and everything in between. "Change" makes many of them uncomfortable. They associate the word "revolution" with a negative connotation.
- tennyson
- Exchanger
Offline
- Registered: 2/06/2015
- Posts: 6,654
Re: Bernie Sanders knows he needs to get older voters
Just Fred wrote:
Tennyson is right. Generally, older people don't like change, and I'm guessing many even fear it. This not only true of politics, but in many areas of societal life from music to technology and everything in between. "Change" makes many of them uncomfortable. They associate the word evolution" with a negative connotation.
Fear of change COULD be a factor but I believe the larger issue here is that those things that Bernie is most trying to push are things that are not very important to them at their stage of life. Unfortunately for Bernie usually the older generation are the ones that show up to vote Now, if Bernie can really mobilize the younger voters even more and make more inroads with the older generation then perhaps he can still mount a threat.
"Do not confuse motion and progress, A rocking horse keeps moving but does not make any progress"
- Common Sense
- Exchanger
Offline
- Registered: 2/16/2015
- Posts: 3,258
Re: Bernie Sanders knows he needs to get older voters
They have worked their entire life time and now are retired. They have paid their school loans off, the mortgage is paid and just want to enjoy their golden years.
They know there is no such thing as "free" education! They know someone has to pay for the "free" stuff.
Sanders proposals are very expensive and they have zero interest in what he is selling.
“We hold these truths to be self-evident,” former vice president Biden said during a campaign event in Texas on Monday. "All men and women created by — you know, you know, the thing.”
- Brady Bunch
- Exchanger
Offline
- Registered: 1/29/2015
- Posts: 862
Re: Bernie Sanders knows he needs to get older voters
I'm not sure it has so much to do with change, although in general older people probably don't like much change.
I think it has to do with his policies, as they don't have an impact on them. They have medicare, so "medicare-for-all" doesn't appeal to them. Free college doesn't mean anything to them, since most would have graduated almost 50 years before that. Bad trade deals that might lead to a lose in manufacturing jobs has no impact, since many are retired. Same goes for increased minimum wage.
What they probably see are a lot of big ideas that will cost a huge sum of money and don't want to pay increased taxes for something they will not personally benefit from. I would imagine most seniors would come out on the "losing" end if Bernie was elected and his tax plan was implemented.
- •
Thread Starter- Rongone
- Sentient Being
Offline
- From: Keeping Calm, Sailing On
- Registered: 1/31/2015
- Posts: 2,872
Re: Bernie Sanders knows he needs to get older voters
I can't speak for every 'senior citizen' out there, but I believe that change is inevitable.
His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama tells us: "Open your arms to change, but don't let go of your values."
Without change we would never move forward. We would become stagnant and lose our interest in discovery.
I am 68 years old, and in this election cycle, with the current group of candidates, I am very interested in Bernie Sanders, his vision, his programs, and his plans for changing the status quo.
- flowergirl
- Exchanger
Offline
- Registered: 2/03/2015
- Posts: 1,840
Re: Bernie Sanders knows he needs to get older voters
This older person would not vote for Bernie because he's promising things like Medicare for all, free college for all and making other campaign statements that are virtually impossible today nor do I agree with particularly free college for all. Firstly, not everyone is college material--how about technical schools or other jobs training. Secondly, whatever happened to work/school programs and where is it written everyone is entitled to an education beyond high school? I don't disagree with many of his campaign promises or his wish list. Many are just not possible in today's political climate.
- Just Fred
- Duke of Cortona
Offline
- Registered: 1/29/2015
- Posts: 3,863
Re: Bernie Sanders knows he needs to get older voters
flowergirl, I support the free education for all who have the ability, work ethic, and desire to continue their education beyond high school whether in college, trade or technical school. The reason for me is two-fold. First, there was a time several decades ago when a high school diploma was all that was required to meld into the workforce. Free education through high school made sense for the future of the American workforce in 1920.
But, societal and culture needs have changed greatly over the last 100 years. It's about time we catch up to the rest of the civilized world and, like they do, understand education beyond high school is important to the future of a nation, particularly in a democratic society that wants to compete in the global marketplace. Seems to me, like the GI Bill, a low cost or free education to those who have the ability and desire to continue their education beyond high school makes sense.