Exclusive: As elections near, many older, educated, white voters shift away from Trump's party

[brooklynite]

Source: Reuters

(Reuters) - Older, white, educated voters helped Donald Trump win the White House in 2016. Now, they are trending toward Democrats in such numbers that their ballots could tip the scales in tight congressional races from New Jersey to California, a new Reuters/Ipsos poll and a data analysis of competitive districts shows.

Nationwide, whites over the age of 60 with college degrees now favor Democrats over Republicans for Congress by a 2-point margin, according to Reuters/Ipsos opinion polling during the first three months of the year. During the same period in 2016, that same group favored Republicans for Congress by 10 percentage points.

The 12-point swing is one of the largest shifts in support toward Democrats that the Reuters/Ipsos poll has measured over the past two years. If that trend continues, Republicans will struggle to keep control of the House of Representatives, and possibly the Senate, in the November elections, potentially dooming President Donald Trump’s legislative agenda.

“The real core for the Republicans is white, older white, and if they’re losing ground there, they’re going to have a tsunami,” said Larry Sabato, a University of Virginia political scientist who closely tracks political races. “If that continues to November, they’re toast.”

Read more: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-election-healthcare-poll/exclusive-as-elections-near-many-older-educated-white-voters-shift-away-from-trumps-party-idUSKBN1HG1I6

[Iliyah]

1. In the end, they still vote Republican beause for years the

Democratic Party is labeled EVIL.

But we shall see . . . .

[Hortensis]

12. Nov 6 will be about turnout.

just staying home works for us also.

A lot of them told themselves that the Supreme Court seat was why they needed to vote Republican in 2016. Well, they Got Gorsuch, and probably some of this group are not entirely sure now that they didn't get too much of a "good thing" in him.

[vkkv]

2. K& R !! Keep 'em SWINGING !!

[BumRushDaShow]

3. "Older, white, educated voters"

Being "educated" should have meant they would have known how to find out about who they were voting for vs ignoring the downsides of that person they did vote for in favor of voting against someone who was really not out to harm them but who they were duped into believing was evil. But that apparently didn't happen and we are all paying the price.

Am guessing a bunch of these folks are not only suburbanites but indies and probably heavy facebook users (who got suckered).

[Lonestarblue]

4. Recent Republican rhetoric may be part of the issue.

Older white voters are concerned with things like Social Security and Medicare, and some of them with Medicaid. The fact that Republicans cut taxes on the wealthy and then almost immediately turned around and said we have to cut Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid to make up for the deficits caused by the tax cut cannot have been lost on most people. Democrats need to hammer that point. Paul Ryan is on record saying he wants to privatize Social Security, and the Koch network wants to do away with Medicare and Medicaid entirely. The right-wing pundits natter away constantly about the evil of George Soros, who basically supports liberal democracy, but few in the mainstream media do much to expose the draconian goals of people like the Kochs and Mercers. Fred Koch was a leader of the John Birch Society from its founding until his death. His sons have carried on his beliefs. And I suspect that few people today, especially Republicans, even know what the John Birch Society is or what it stands for.

[radical noodle]

6. The far right still uses the same

talking points, they just no longer call it the John Birch Society. I remember the Birchers very well, and they were/are evil.

[Stonepounder]

5. Sorry I can't help.

I am in the correct demographic.
I am 'older' (70)
I am white
I am educated (Ohio State University and UCLA)
But I just can't shift away from Trump.

I am afraid that if I tried to get any further away I would have to leave the political sphere entirely. I've been pushing against the left side of the sphere since my college days and am still pushing.

[Pluvious]

7. May we soon change our "Blue Wave" metaphor to the "Cobalt Tsunami" !!

Education can be helpful.

[BumRushDaShow]

8. Or "Sapphire Tsunami"

[Pluvious]

9. Very nice !! n/t

[not fooled]

10. Apparently their education was lacking something

if they didn't see through the con. Including falling for the cr*p about HRC.

Oh, well. Better late than never.

[xxqqqzme]

11. I'm in that demographic.

and I have never voted rethuglican in my life.