In an article that is featured in today’s Washington Post and on the CBS News website, GOP Presidential nominee Senator John McCain may not be able to fully rely on the “gray vote,” let alone the gray vote in Florida. Perhaps this puts McCain at great risk of losing Florida to Democratic Presidential nominee Senator Barack Obama of Illinois come Election Day on November 4.
One would ask: What is the gray vote?
The gray vote is defined as the elderly vote. In a retirement community in Sun City Center, which is outside of Tampa, Florida, the community is split on who to vote for.
According to 73-year-old Jerry Decker, he enjoys retirement. However, he does have fears about getting a letter saying that he could risk losing his pension plan. So far, Decker is not alone.
The subject of the AIG executives going on that weekend spa retreat was brought up.
One had said: “If we ran a household like they ran their company, you’d be bankrupt in five months.”
Decker and the others are part of the retirement community’s “Sawdust Engineers.” There are five of them in total. All five of them are veterans of the Korean War. So far, they voted for current US President George W. Bush back in 2004. However, it may not be the case for McCain.
So far, it has been revealed that McCain needs much help from the gray vote if he wishes to win Florida. Florida is one of the most crucial states to win in order to grasp the US Presidency. McCain needs much help from the elderly community to counter the overwhelming support of the youth vote which has gone to Obama.
Ed Bearer, a retired school teacher from Delaware, plans to cast his vote for Obama.
Dee Williams, the current president of the Sun City Center Republican club said that McCain needs to show passion. Williams said that McCain needs to send his VP running-mate Alaska Governor Sarah Palin out to Michigan.
She had words of warning for McCain. Those words were if McCain gives up Michigan, he will lose Florida.
This is in regards to McCain’s decision to withdraw from Michigan to allocate resources to Ohio and Florida. Ohio is another one of the crucial battleground states. McCain and Obama are heavily fighting it out in Ohio.
Overall, it shows that McCain is at risk of losing Florida. McCain still has the chance if he can get much support from the elderly community. However, it is easier said than done in the case of McCain.
In regards to Florida’s youth vote, Obama leads over McCain by 52 to 42. Ever since 1990, there has been in increase of those nineteen and under. One student had already said that whoever wins the youth vote will end up winning Florida on Election Day.
Asides the youth vote, McCain has something else to worry about: the “Great Schlep.” It is a movement by Florida’s young Jewish Democrats. This movement is about young Jewish Democrats getting their elders to vote for Obama.
This movement has been helping Obama become more appealing to the elderly community. Through this Great Schlep, it could interestingly enough bring the youth vote and the gray vote together.