Are Repubs afraid to vote for a candidate YOUNGER than THEMSELVES?

[eppur_se_muova]

Seriously ... what's the point of being an authoritarian if you don't vote for an authority figure -- a sort of super-father figure? And how much easier is it regard someone older as an authority figure, a stand-in for the father who may not be there anymore? There are reasons Repub candidates tend to be rich, older white men, and money isn't the only one.

Have there been studies on this? Is it known how much R's, more than D's, tend to favor older candidates? Or how the average ages of the candidates compare in various elections?

Obama is the first presidential candidate younger than myself. One day I realized the guy was born only a year or two after I was -- which not only made me feel old, but made me realize that older voters may balk at entrusting such an important responsibility as the Presidency to someone younger than themselves. After all, I wouldn't make a good President, so how can I expect someone even younger to do so? :evilfrown: I'm not sure if this is a point that one could constructively bring up in a campaign, on the stump or in ads, but it is one worth worrying about, particularly if talking to older voters. Acknowledging that a candidate younger than me could do a good job is also an implicit acknowledgement that I'll probably never be qualified for the job myself, which is something of a difficult confession for some of us to make.

[John Q. Citizen]

1. No.

[treestar]

2. No, they voted for Dubya

It is odd when you realize that it is possible to be older than the President, though (Obama'll be my first younger President).

[eppur_se_muova]

3. On the basis of who his father was, to a large degree.

Too many variables to separate.