Political scientists and recent polls give Sen. John McCain an edge over Sen. Barack Obama among older voters, which may bode well for McCain in the presidential election because seniors are the most reliable voters.
A June survey by the Pew Research Center indicates that registered voters ages 65 and up prefer McCain over Obama, 44 percent to 37 percent. The same survey's results among all ages gave Obama, the presumptive Democratic nominee, an 8-point advantage over McCain, the presumptive Republican nominee. The poll, based on telephone interviews of 2,004 U.S. adults, had a margin of error of plus or minus 2.5 percentage points.
As the race for the White House becomes more intense, the campaigns are stepping up efforts to reach the influential voting group. Obama's national campaign hired a seniors constituency director this week, and both campaigns plan to mobilize volunteers to reach out to their peers. McCain especially will need the older voters to offset an expected surge of younger voters toward Obama, political scientists say.
"I think seniors this time would probably go with McCain above Obama. Generally speaking, they like a 'known' over an 'unknown.' They don't like change," said Allan Saxe, a political science associate professor at the University of Texas at Arlington, who, at 69, is himself a senior.
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