Older Americans Souring on Bush

The Wall Street Journal reports that the latest WSJ/NBC poll has found Americans 65 and older have become most critical of Bush’s job performance and are keen to see Democrats take control of Congress. Not an insignificant problem for the GOP, with older voters traditionally having a higher turnout in midterm elections than their younger counterparts.

By a 65%-19% margin, Americans age 65 and above disapprove of the performance of Congress; those under 65 are also negative but less lopsidedly, 58%-27%. Moreover, senior citizens say by 47%-37% that they want Democrats rather than Republicans to win control of Capitol Hill. Those under 65 prefer a Democratic victory by a narrower 45%-39% margin…

[O]lder voters, having given Mr. Bush slightly greater support than younger voters in his narrow 2004 re-election victory, have now become the most critical of his job performance. In the Journal/NBC poll, for instance, Americans under 65 disapprove of Mr. Bush's job performance by a margin of 16 percentage points, while those 65 and above disapprove by a margin of 20 percentage points.

Older voters are largely dissatisfied with the president’s handling of the economy as well (58% disapproval), and are none too pleased with the Medicare prescription-drug benefit, deemed “too complicated and confusing” by 73% of respondents.

The GOP is hoping that immigration reform may bring seniors back into the fold, but with seniors increasingly concerned about the war, too, all I can say is good luck with that.

(Crossposted at Political Animal.)