Republicans are facing an uphill battle this year, with Democrats extra motivated by their Trump hatred and historical trends that show the party in power usually takes it on the chin in midterm elections. Overcoming those obstacles starts with winning over the most reliable voting group of all, senior citizens. So says election expert Joseph Ford Cotto in a new piece called MAGA + Seniors = GOP Midterm Victory.
Cotto has a point. He notes that seniors (those 65 and older) have a voter participation rate of nearly 75 percent, by far the highest among any demographic. And older voters tend to turn out even stronger in the midterms, with 64 percent of the 2022 electorate age 50 or older. And those voters seem ripe for Republicans, with a recent national survey finding voters over age 50 favor Republicans over Democrats by eight points, 46 percent-38 percent.
Robert "Bobby" Charles, spokesman for the Association of Mature American Citizens (AMAC) and GOP candidate for Maine Governor, says reaching older voters starts with focusing on the basics. "Seniors have worked all their lives, and what they deserve to have is the product of that hard work," he tells KTRH. "I will also say many seniors are veterans, so I think it's important to understand the issues that are important to veterans."
"And I think healthcare has to be affordable, it has to be accessible, and it has to be high quality."
Not surprisingly, recent surveys show cost of living, affordability, and healthcare among the most important issue for seniors. But they also list immigration among their top issues. Charles has seen that as well, noting that seniors equate border security with their own security. "Joe Biden let 15 million illegals in to our country, and many of them are affiliated with gangs, drug trafficking, and human trafficking," he says. "We need to get them out of the country, and we need to restore the level of security---both financial security and public safety---that seniors worked all of their lives to be able to enjoy."
Still, he argues the outreach must go beyond simply appealing to voters. "The biggest issue is getting people to the polls," says Charles. "I think Republicans need to work harder to get absentee ballots out early, and to take advantage of the opportunity to have seniors vote."
Photo: AFP