Baby Boomers weren’t responsible for the election of Barack Obama over John McCain to the presidency in 2008.
When the votes were counted, Boomers were evenly spit between the two -- about 50 percent for Democrat Obama, and 49 percent for Republican McCain.
In the run-up to the 2012 presidential election, the pollsters are delving into whether one age group or another will help -- or hurt -- Obama’s re-election chances.
Certainly the youth vote is of particular concern to those chances.
In 2008, he won the 18-to-29 year old vote by a 66 percent to 32 percent margin over McCain.
New research by the Pew Research Center breaks down the current mood of the electorate by generations:
Millennial voters are inclined to back President Barack Obama by a wide margin in a potential matchup against former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney, while Silent generation voters are solidly behind Romney,” it said in a report entitled “The Generation Gap and the 2012 Election.”
“Baby Boomers and Generation X voters, who are the most anxious about the uncertain economic times, are on the fence about a second term for Obama.”
Xers and Boomers are worried about the ability to finance their retirements.
“...Boomers and Gen Xers are far more likely than either Silents or Millennials to have little or no confidence they will have enough money to finance their retirement. And two-thirds of Boomers ages 50 to 61 who are still working expect to delay retirement because of current economic conditions,” said the center.
How the Boomers vote could very well fall on where the candidates stand on the future of Social Security and Medicare.
“Like other generations, Boomers oppose cutting entitlement benefits in order to reduce the budget deficit. They are also part of a multi-generational majority that supports reducing Social Security and Medicare benefits for seniors with higher incomes. However, unlike Silents, Boomers oppose raising the eligibility age for Social Security and Medicare,” said the Pew report.
Meanwhile, a new Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll shows Baby Boomers age 50 to 64 prefer Obama in a match-up with former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney 54 percent to 41 percent.
That about matches the 18 to 34 years olds, who favor Obama 54 to 37 percent over Romney.
The 65 and older crowd favor Romney by 54 to 38 percent.
Americans 35 to 49 in the Journal/NBC poll are evenly split: 46 percent for Obama, 45 percent for Romney.
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