Election analysts and pollsters have clued in to a stubborn fact: Americans dislike that so many of the country’s powerful politicians are, well, rather long in the tooth.
Broad voter disenchantment with aging politicians is proving particularly relevant to the 2024 presidential contest, which could feature a rematch between two candidates who have each spent roughly eight decades on the planet: President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump.
Pundits are also quick to point out that, broadly speaking, voters are more concerned about 80-year-old Biden’s age than 77-year-old Trump’s age. Here’s what they don’t tell you: The main difference is that the Democratic Party isn’t a cult.
In this month’s co-branded Daily Kos/Civiqs poll, three-quarters of registered voters expressed concern about Biden’s age “affecting his ability to serve as president,” while roughly half said they were similarly concerned about Trump’s age.
But the main reason for the difference stems from Republican voters mostly falling in lockstep behind Trump, with 71% saying they were “not concerned” about his age.
Among Democrats, however, a notably smaller 49% said they weren’t concerned about the sitting president’s age.
Here’s the partisan breakdown on Trump:
Here’s the partisan breakdown on Biden:
When Civiqs polling director Drew Linzer and I discussed the topic on this week’s episode of The Brief, Linzer explained, “On the Republican side, these voters are committed to expressing good things about Donald Trump, period. No matter what we ask about.”
Almost like a cult.
But on the Democratic side, there’s “more willingness to be critical” in evaluating both Biden and Democrats more generally, Linzer noted.
All that said, in a potential head-to-head matchup, concerned Democrats are still going to vote for Biden over Trump.
“It doesn’t mean they’re not going to vote for Joe Biden. It just means that they’re willing to be critical of Joe Biden,” Linzer added.
It is worth noting, however, that young Democrats are the biggest skeptics of Biden’s age, with 70% saying they are either very or somewhat concerned.
Here are the crosstabs of Democratic age groups:
Here’s a clip of the segment from “The Brief,” in which I also razz Drew to spice things up a bit.
Sign the petition: Denounce MAGA GOP’s baseless impeachment inquiry against Biden
Kerry talks with Drew Linzer, director of the online polling company Civiqs. Drew tells us what the polls say about voters’ feelings toward President Joe Biden and Donald Trump, and what the results would be if the two men were to, say … run against each other for president in 2024. Oh yeah, Drew polled to find out who thinks Donald Trump is guilty of the crimes he’s been indicted for, and whether or not he should see the inside of a jail cell.
