Older voters and the 2010 U.S. election: implications for 2012 and beyond?

PURPOSE To analyze the extent to which Americans aged 65 and older may have voted as an old age-benefits bloc in the 2010 midterm election in response to threats of Medicare rationing. METHODS Analysis of age group data from the Edison Research 2010 Election Day exit polls, complemented by data published elsewhere. RESULTS For the first time in 4 decades, there were signs of an old-age voting bloc in the 2010 election; yet, analysis of the age group data by sex and race/ethnicity reveals notable differences among these subgroups. IMPLICATIONS This new tendency toward old-age bloc voting may well continue in the 2012 election and beyond. If "reforming" Medicare and Social Security persist as policy issues, the votes of older persons may increasingly be affected to a much greater degree than in past elections.