Why are old people very conservative?

[badgate]

Since we're sharing, my maternal grandparents lived in Lubbock, TX until they passed, were very conservative.

In contrast, my paternal grandfather worked for the TC Williams High School band in the 70s, rode on the buses that white parents would throw rocks at, and my grandmother was an English teacher. Super Democrat, though socially center-right.


I'm inclined to agree with the senility argument

[freepcrusher]

well here's my grandparents:

mother's father - born to British Immigrants, grew up in Detroit in middle class family. Too young to fight in WWII (born in 1927). His parents were democrats but not very political from what he told me. I doubt he was very political in his early years since he was busy going to medical school, doing his residency, and then raising children. Anyways, he was a neurosurgeon for 30ish years and probably has more money than I care to imagine. He is about as WASP as they come and the sort of person you see in places like Sun City. He's a republican (like you needed to guess) and I assume he votes that way since he sees it as part of a status quo.

mother's mother - born to Irish catholic family. Parents hated Hoover and strong FDR supporters. First voted in 1952 and voted that way for the next 15 years. She was a high school teacher in the 50s and into the early 60s. Since they had to move a lot early on and she already had young children, she eventually stopped teaching. She probably started voting repub in the late 60s since thats when her husband started making $$$ and she probably saw herself as part of the upper middle class. She was also not a teacher by then so any liberalism would be in the rearview mirror by that point. She probably would have drifted to the GOP anyways since she's a super orthodox catholic (as far right as you can get without being in Opus Dei) and voted for Santorum in the primary.

father's father - born and raised in Canada (but is not Canadian, his parents/grandparents immigrated from Europe), he came to the U.S. after WWII. He was also a medical doctor (radiologist). Went to lutheran church every now and then but was nonreligious. He died in the 90s from Pulmonary Fibrosis (probably caused by exposure to radiation). Since he was new to the U.S., he essentially just voted for whoever won.

father's mother - also born and raised in Canada and like her husband was not of Canadian ancestry (parents were born in Scotland. She was a RN for awhile (where she met her husband) but probably left the workforce sometime when her first few kids were young (they had six by the way). In those days having kids didn't have as strong a correlation with religiosity or political beliefs. My dad's entire family is very secular. Anyways, she voted republican when everyone did (like for Nixon and Reagan) but has otherwise been very liberal. All her six children are very much heavy drinking fun loving types and she isn't nearly as easily offended as my mom's parents are. Very much in support for abortion and gay rights.

[DevotedDemocrat]

I always wonder at my late grandpa's politics. He was born in 1920 to Italian immigrant parents in NYC, but never taught his kids the language, did 7 years in the Army including serving all of WWII and was a Staff Sgt., disallowed his daughters to go into the Military as he felt they didn't "respect women", and was a blue collar worker after the War--a grocer, a cabbie, a variety of jobs including two jobs in which he was a union worker.

He was a member of the VFW and the American Legion in the late 1950s and had an active hunting license and possible NRA membership. He worked alongside blacks and Hispanics as a security guard and was friends with both blacks and hispanics on the job. It just makes me wonder at what his politics might've been.

I have his voter registration card from 1963 but the voter registrations of the time didn't list your party affiliation at all, just your name, address and voter district. It'd be interesting to find out what he was registered as. My grandmother claims he was never into politics but going and registering to vote says otherwise to me.

If he was an Italian living on Long Island or Staten Island in the '60s, he was likely registered as a Republican. If he was in one of the inner boroughs, uncertain.

Brooklyn.
I don't know if this would go in any way to his politics, but the guy did adapt with the trends of the 60s. He didn't grow his hair long but he did wear long sideburns, wild clothes, shirts with big collars and flared slacks. He seemed pretty progressive in those ways.

Also, he was against when my aunt wanted to become a Nun. He felt she could do much better with her life, and felt that my aunt wanting to become a Nun was due to my grandma's "obsession with the Church". Whereas my grandma thought it was the best thing one could do. He only signed the permission slip (she was 17 and needed her parents' written permission) on the condition that she date boys for a year and hold a job for a year, and when the year passed, he'd sign. Both sides held up their end.

And he refused to let my other aunt join the Military during Vietnam, saying they didn't respect or treat women right in the Military.

[bore]

There are some states, like MN, where the olds are actually the most left wing age group.

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

There are some states, like MN, where the olds are actually the most left wing age group.

What? They tend to vote more D than middle aged people, but certainly not more so than youngs. Check out these age breakdowns of two polls close to the election:

SurveyUSA 10/30/12:
18-34: 57 Obama-37 Romney
35-49: 44 Obama-45 Romney
50-64: 50 Obama-45 Romney
Over 65: 51 Obama-43 Romney

PPP 11/03/12:
18-29: 71 Obama-27 Romney
30-45: 48 Obama-50 Romney
46-65: 51 Obama-47 Romney
Over 65: 53 Obama-45 Romney

Though the standard subsample MoE caveats apply in there, the pattern is pretty clear.

[bgwah]

They're from a different era... I'm sure many of us will find the social issues of 2050 foreign and bizarre, whatever they may be.

[bore]

There are some states, like MN, where the olds are actually the most left wing age group.

What? They tend to vote more D than middle aged people, but certainly not more so than youngs. Check out these age breakdowns of two polls close to the election:

SurveyUSA 10/30/12:
18-34: 57 Obama-37 Romney
35-49: 44 Obama-45 Romney
50-64: 50 Obama-45 Romney
Over 65: 51 Obama-43 Romney

PPP 11/03/12:
18-29: 71 Obama-27 Romney
30-45: 48 Obama-50 Romney
46-65: 51 Obama-47 Romney
Over 65: 53 Obama-45 Romney

Though the standard subsample MoE caveats apply in there, the pattern is pretty clear.

I was looking at this (http://www.nbcnews.com/id/14349809) and this (http://www.foxnews.com/politics/elections/2012-exit-poll/MN/Senate) exit poll though having a look at the obama romney poll the pattern is as you describe. Probably a mix of Obama being a better candidate for youngs and Klobuchar a better one for olds?

[Oldiesfreak1854]

They believe more in traditional values, probably.  But they're more of a swing group and not solidly R.

[Amenhotep Bakari-Sellers]

Because they feel like they worked for their social security. Young people that dont work is precisely the way they feel and roomneys 47% comment about, minorities and youth, lazy.