(C) Daily Kos
This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered.
. . . . . . . . . .



I Guess Older Voters Are in The FO Phase [1]

['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.']

Date: 2025-05-17

Another FAFO story. Let's begin with how older voters voted in 2024:

The key to Donald Trump’s presidential win were seven swing states up for grabs in the 2024 election. Older voters in many of those states — Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin — turned out for GOP former president Donald Trump in his battle against Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris for the nation’s top leadership spot. Exit polls show the majority of older voters in those battleground states cast ballots for Trump. In North Carolina, for example, 53 percent of voters ages 45 to 64 supported Trump, compared with 45 percent for Harris. Among voters over 65, 52 percent went for Trump, compared with 47 percent for Harris. In Michigan and Wisconsin, however, while the majority of voters ages 45 to 65 broke for Trump, voters over 65 supported Harris. “Older voters had a significant impact on the 2024 presidential race and their turnout was crucial — especially in battleground states,” said AARP Chief Advocacy and Engagement Officer, Nancy A. LeaMond. “While older men leaned heavily toward Trump, we saw a notable gender divide, with women more evenly split.”

Of course, older voters are not a monolith, but a majority of them propelled Trump into the White House again. And now? According to the NY Times a lot of those same voters are rushing to file for social security benefits earlier than planned in fear that they may lose out:

The morning after his 67th birthday, Marty McGowan filed for Social Security. That wasn’t his original plan. He had intended to wait until he was 70 to claim benefits, in exchange for a heftier payment that would have yielded an extra $800 a month. But like other retirees in recent months, he was watching the Trump administration’s shake-up at the Social Security Administration during a time when the broader economic outlook appeared increasingly uncertain. Concerns about the economy and access to benefits nudged him to file earlier than he had anticipated, even if it might cost him over the long run. He wasn’t the only one: An additional 276,000 retirees claimed benefits on their earnings record this fiscal year through April, according to the Urban Institute, a research group, a 13 percent jump from the same period a year ago. Officials inside the Social Security Administration called the rise “dramatic,” and though there were some other reasons for the surge, program experts say anxiety appeared to play a meaningful role. (Emphasis mine.) “It is worrisome because for most people, claiming early is not a good decision,” said Jack Smalligan, a senior policy fellow at the Urban Institute. “They’re nervous about the threats to the Social Security Administration and their benefits, while simultaneously looking at their 401(k), if they have one, and worrying about that.”

Are they now worried about Donnie Two Dolls and DOGE destroying their hard earned benefits? Are they having fears about a regime that is in control of a government agency they helped give him the keys to? I guess so.

One could argue that these voters were hoodwinked:

In June 2024, President Donald Trump told supporters at a campaign rally, "As president, I will not cut one penny from Social Security or Medicare." He made a virtually identical statement in July 2024 on social media. "I will not cut one penny from Social Security or Medicare, and I will not raise the retirement age by one day."

However, I doubt that was many of them. It's not like he wasn't lying EVERY DAY during his first term as president:

During Donald Trump's first term, the Washington Post famously kept count of the lies the president told. The paper's final tally was 30,573 from the time he was inaugurated the first time to when he left office in January of 2021 — an average of 21 lies or misleading statements every day he was in office. Some might conclude that with such numbers he's an habitual liar.

Older Voters are the most reliable voters. They also pay close attention to elections and the stakes at hand. Nope, I don't think most were that easily fooled and misinformed. They knew what they were voting for. Sadly, it's FO time for these folks as well.

[END]
---
[1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2025/5/17/2322871/-I-Guess-Older-Voters-Are-in-The-FO-Phase?pm_campaign=front_page&pm_source=trending&pm_medium=web

Published and (C) by Daily Kos
Content appears here under this condition or license: Site content may be used for any purpose without permission unless otherwise specified.

via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds:
gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/dailykos/