President Biden’s reelection campaign is seeking to appeal to older voters in an effort to tap into the power of this historically reliable voting bloc.
Last week, the president’s reelection campaign launched the “Seniors for Biden-Harris” campaign, led by first lady Jill Biden, which includes bingo nights and pickleball events in key states such as Wisconsin, Minnesota, Nevada and Arizona.
The move comes as Biden has struggled to appeal to key voting groups and has shown disappointing numbers in polls ahead of Election Day. But older voters are proving to be a bright spot for the race. A Fox News poll released this week gave Biden a 2-point lead over former President Trump for the first time since October. Biden also led Trump by 15 points among voters 65 and older.
“The older demographic is a battleground,” said Bob Ward, a pollster at the Republican firm Fabrizio Ward. “It’s in their interest to focus on that demographic, and I think it’s in the interest of the Trump campaign to focus on that demographic.”
Ward worked with Impact Research, a Democratic polling firm, to survey voters in 44 of the most competitive districts on behalf of AARP. According to the survey results The latest poll, released Thursday, gives Biden a five-point lead among voters 65 and older.
At the same time, voters between the ages of 50 and 64 appear to be leaning toward Trump, with the AARP poll finding that he has a 15-point lead in this age group.
“Senior voters are not a monolith,” Ward said. “The demographic just below them is overwhelmingly Republican. They’re the most Republican age group overall.”
Both the 50-64 and 65+ age groups are the most motivated voters. According to an AARP survey, 84% of voters over 50 said they were “very motivated” to vote in November, compared to 63% of voters under 50. Another benefit of appealing to older voters is that if they are retired, they may have more time to help campaigns through phone banking and door-to-door canvassing.
Biden’s support among voters over 65 marks a generational shift in the Democratic Party, a voting group that has traditionally leaned Republican since the 2000 presidential election.
“This is a big change in the Trump era,” said Democratic strategist John Reinisch. “Donald Trump has offended older voters who don’t support extremism and instability and who are very opposed to his disruption. [and] Lack of courtesy.”
These sentiments are reflected in other recent polls. Quinnipiac University Poll A poll released last month found that 35% of voters aged 65 and over said democracy was the most urgent issue facing the country, compared with 10% of respondents aged 18 to 29.
The data and Biden’s efforts come as his campaign struggles to win over younger voters, particularly Gen Z. Harvard Youth Poll A poll released in late April showed Biden leading Trump among 18-29 year olds, 45% to 37%, compared with four years ago when Biden led Trump by 23 points in that age group.
Biden is also struggling with young voters of color. Public opinion poll announcement A poll conducted earlier this month by the University of Chicago’s GenForward Project showed support for Biden wavering among young black and Latino voters.
Younger voters have particularly taken issue with Biden’s handling of Israel’s war with Hamas, an issue that could hurt him in battleground states like Michigan.
But the political landscape is different in Arizona, another key battleground state: 16% of Arizona’s 7.5 million people are over 65, according to 2020 census data. Biden won Arizona by just 1% in the 2020 presidential election.
Democratic strategists argue that Biden could offset the damage of potentially losing younger voters by doing better among voters in this age group.
Jamal Simmons, a Democratic strategist and former communications director for Vice President Harris, said Biden’s appeal to older voters could help “blunt” the potential loss of younger voters who may be less engaged in the campaign.
“What works for Biden is that older voters tend to be better educated, have more assets, and are more informed about what’s going on in the news, and more informed people tend to like Donald Trump less,” Simmons said.
Simmons emphasized that young voters remain a major driver of the political and cultural conversation.
“The temptation to focus on young voters is very strong because they are so energetic, they volunteer and they really create cultural moments in this country,” he said.
But some data suggests that younger voters are still not as enthusiastic about the presidential election.
a Harvard Institute of Politics December poll Among voters ages 18-29 who voted in the 2020 election, just 49% said they would “definitely” vote in the November election.
One problem Biden has with younger voters is that they are less familiar with him than older voters who followed him as a senator, multiple presidential bids and vice president — a dynamic that has helped shift the Democratic coalition that was key to former President Barack Obama’s victories in 2008 and 2012.
“It’s always helpful to remember that these age groups aren’t static,” Simmons said. “Someone who’s 65 today was in their 50s when Barack Obama ran for president.”
“We think we know a lot about Joe Biden, but the reality is that voters in their early 20s don’t know that much about Joe Biden,” he said.
