One of the demographic groups where Mitt Romney has consistently been outperforming the President among voters aged 60 and older. This is perhaps one of the reasons why Romney has remained relatively competitive in states like Florida where older voters make up a substantial part of the population. More importantly, though, older voters have historically been the one voting group that is most likely to turn up at the polls on Election Day. According to a new poll, though, Romney many be losing his advantage among this crucial group:
(Reuters) – Even before his running mate was booed by a lobbying group for older Americans on Friday, Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney was losing support among such voters, whose backing is crucial to his hopes of winning the November 6 election.
New polling by Reuters/Ipsos indicates that during the past two weeks – since just after the Democratic National Convention – support for Romney among Americans age 60 and older has crumbled, from a 20-point lead over Democratic President Barack Obama to less than 4 points.
Romney’s double-digit advantages among older voters on the issues of healthcare and Medicare – the nation’s health insurance program for those over 65 and the disabled – also have evaporated, and Obama has begun to build an advantage in both areas.
Voting preferences among seniors could change in the final six weeks of the campaign, but the polling suggests that a series of recent episodes favoring Obama and the Democrats could be chipping away at Romney’s support among older Americans.
If this continues, then it will become even more difficult for Romney to turn things around in this race, and states like Florida may end up being put out of his reach. At that point, his ability to get to 270 Electoral Votes would be difficult indeed.
