19 Days and Counting

Polls now show that Florida’s seniors, who traditionally vote at higher rates than any other age group, have shifted in significant numbers away from Trump to Biden, according to a recent article in the Tampa Bay Times.
The University of North Florida Public Opinion Research Lab released a poll of likely voters on Oct. 6, and while Biden was leading Trump among likely Florida voters 51 percent to 45 percent, the margin among voters older than 65 was 50 percent for Trump and 47 percent for Biden. Those same people were asked how they voted years ago, and the margin was much larger, 14 points in Trump’s favor.

The trend seems to be happening across the nation. In the last month, a CNN poll found Biden leading Trump by 21 points — 60 percent to 39 percent — among likely voters 65 and older. An NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll reported an even larger margin.

The Pew Research Center estimates that Trump beat Clinton by nine percentage points among voters 65 and older four years ago. By comparison, John McCain carried the senior vote by eight points in 2008, and George W. Bush had only a four-point advantage in 2004.

A former Republican voter in Florida might have summed it up best. She said she voted for Trump in 2016 because “I thought that he was a great businessman” but she increasingly became turned off by what she considers "his narcissistic behavior,'' how he treated women, how he would “fire anybody who would stand up against him,” and “how he puts people at risk for COVID.”

A University of North Florida poll asked people if the pandemic or the economic impact was their biggest concern. Senior voters who said that public health was their top concern were 80 percent in support of Biden. Of the people polled who said the economic impact was most important, 89 percent were for Trump.
 
Learn More:

https://www.tampabay.com/news/florida-politics/elections/2020/10/12/floridas-senior-vote-shifting-from-trump-to-biden-polls-show-but-is-it-really/

https://www.npr.org/2020/10/13/923255445/biden-and-trump-key-in-on-seniors-in-campaigns-final-weeks

https://money.usnews.com/money/retirement/aging/articles/why-older-citizens-are-more-likely-to-vote