One of the great paradoxes of American politics is that the Democrats regularly pledge to protect the entitlements of the elderly, who then turn around and vote predominantly for entitlement-hating Republicans. How long can this last?
Not indefinitely. At some point in the fairly near future, millennials are going to become the largest cohort of the Democratic Party, and one of two things is going to happen: either the elderly will start voting in a manner consistent with their economic interests, instead of their conservative values; or the party, with little to lose, will turn against the elderly and renegotiate the terms of the welfare state in favor of younger people at the latter’s insistence.
It won’t happen in 2020, but the choice is inevitable.