Readers my age or older will undoubtedly remember the iconic movie “The Graduate,” starring Dustin Hoffman. The gist of the movie is that Hoffman’s character, an idealistic Baby Boomer and a newly-minted college graduate, is thrown into a world run by the corrupt, materialistic World War II generation, symbolized by the seductress Mrs. Robinson. In the end, of course, Ben’s idealism prevails, and all is right in the world.
Today, of course, the World War II generation is called the “Greatest Generation,” and the no-longer idealistic Baby Boomers are predominantly Trump voters. Trump himself is technically a Boomer. How’s that for a twist of fate!
The question for today is, how can the Democrats get the votes of more members of the Trump generation? The elderly vote Republican, even though the GOP leadership periodically threatens their cherished Social Security and Medicare benefits, for two reasons. First, they are more socially conservative than Millennials, and do not care for “political correctness”; second, they just don’t believe that the Republicans, as a matter of self-interest, would screw them over like that. Simply crying wolf over possible Social Security and Medicare cuts, based on quotes from Paul Ryan or Mick Mulvaney, isn’t credible to them.
In my opinion, the best way to win the votes of the elderly is to propose to shore up Social Security and Medicare with funds obtained by rolling back portions of the Trump tax cut. That would put the GOP on the spot, and force them to choose between their most reliable voters and the donor class. It’s a win-win from both a policy and a political perspective.