Richard Tafoya
Oct 26th, 2006, 01:57 PM
Reuters:
http://today.reuters.com/news/articlenews.aspx?type=politicsNews&storyid=2006-10-26T152735Z_01_N25449007_RTRUKOC_0_US-ELDERLY.xml
America's elderly enjoy outsized influence in elections because they vote in greater numbers, but this year they've focused their clout on the Iraq war more than traditional concerns such as health and retirement benefits.
Poll after poll shows the U.S. war is uppermost in the minds of the gray-haired legions as they help decide whether President George W. Bush's Republican Party will keep control of Congress in the November 7 election.
"The war in Iraq; it upsets me terribly. I think we weren't told the truth," said 85-year-old Florence Feinstein, who recently skipped her afternoon card game to discuss Medicare prescription drug benefits with Democratic congressional representatives at a retiree center in Sunrise, Florida.
The new drug benefits are important to Feinstein, who relies on six prescription medications. But it is not the top election concern for her, nor for many of her contemporaries surveyed by the Pew Research Center, which found the Iraq war the main issue among voters in all age groups.
"Iraq is the No. 1 issue for seniors who say they will cast a ballot based on national issues," said Andrew Kohut of the center.
The U.S. Census Bureau says there are more than 36 million people 65 and over in the United States out of a population of about 300 million. In the 2002 mid-term election, 61 percent of that group voted, compared with 34 percent of those under age 65.
http://today.reuters.com/news/articlenews.aspx?type=politicsNews&storyid=2006-10-26T152735Z_01_N25449007_RTRUKOC_0_US-ELDERLY.xml
America's elderly enjoy outsized influence in elections because they vote in greater numbers, but this year they've focused their clout on the Iraq war more than traditional concerns such as health and retirement benefits.
Poll after poll shows the U.S. war is uppermost in the minds of the gray-haired legions as they help decide whether President George W. Bush's Republican Party will keep control of Congress in the November 7 election.
"The war in Iraq; it upsets me terribly. I think we weren't told the truth," said 85-year-old Florence Feinstein, who recently skipped her afternoon card game to discuss Medicare prescription drug benefits with Democratic congressional representatives at a retiree center in Sunrise, Florida.
The new drug benefits are important to Feinstein, who relies on six prescription medications. But it is not the top election concern for her, nor for many of her contemporaries surveyed by the Pew Research Center, which found the Iraq war the main issue among voters in all age groups.
"Iraq is the No. 1 issue for seniors who say they will cast a ballot based on national issues," said Andrew Kohut of the center.
The U.S. Census Bureau says there are more than 36 million people 65 and over in the United States out of a population of about 300 million. In the 2002 mid-term election, 61 percent of that group voted, compared with 34 percent of those under age 65.