U.S. President Joe Biden and U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris walk to the East room to welcome the 2023 WNBA champion Las Vegas Aces during a celebration at the White House in Washington, U.S., May 9, 2024.
Craig Hudson | Reuters
Last Wednesday, a group of “Boomers for Biden-Harris” threw a virtual party that was attended by about 400 participants across the U.S.
This week, the names on the Democratic presidential ticket are poised to change now that President Joe Biden announced he has dropped out of his reelection campaign and endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris for president.
“Seniors loved President Biden,” said Laurie Plotnick, 76, a retiree and president of the Florida Democratic Senior Caucus who attended last week’s event.
“He made our lives so much better,” said Plotnick, citing Biden’s work to curb Medicare prescription drug costs and efforts to increase Social Security benefits and cap rents.
“We were very supportive of him staying in the race, if that is what he wanted to do,” Plotnick said.
Biden on Sunday announced in a letter posted on the social media platform X that he plans to “stand down and focus solely on fulfilling my duties as President for the remainder of my term.”
The decision came amid growing momentum in the Democratic party calling for him to call off his reelection efforts. Now, some Republicans, including House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., are demanding that he resign from the presidency as well.
“If the Republicans continue to say that President Biden should leave now, [they] will be insulting every person over 60 in the entire country,” Plotnick said.
Biden, 81, is the oldest American president. Former President Donald Trump, 78, is also among the oldest world leaders.
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Age has become a focal point in the presidential race, and not just because of the candidates’ advanced ages. Debate over whether to raise the retirement age took center stage in the runup to the Republican presidential nomination, with former candidate Nikki Haley suggesting raising the age for workers who are currently in their 20s while also limiting wealthy Americans’ access to Social Security and Medicare.
A recent AARP poll found voters ages 50 and over will help determine who wins in November, based on responses from likely voters in the 44 most competitive congressional districts. Yet their support is divided, with voters ages 50 to 64 leaning Republican by a 13-point margin and voters 65 and over favoring Democrats by five points.
“Older people are telling us they’re much more motivated to vote than younger people,” Democratic pollster Jeff Liszt, partner at Impact Research, said of AARP’s polls.
While some of that gap may close, older adults will still likely be more motivated to vote, he said.
“It’s really important for the candidates to speak to the issues that matter to them,” Liszt said.
A majority of all respondents to AARP’s recent poll — 80% — said Social Security will either be an extremely or very important issue that influences how they vote. Other issues that also rank high on older voters’ priority lists include inflation and family caregiving, AARP has found.
Although Democrats have had a significant lead with regard to Social Security in the past, voter support is now spread more evenly between the parties, according to Liszt.
“Social Security is a battleground issue,” Liszt said.
The next presidential administration may be poised to influence Social Security and Medicare policy, as both programs have trust funds that are nearing their depletion dates. While benefits will still be available, they may be reduced, if Congress does not act sooner.
Both Biden and Trump have promised not to touch benefits. But Trump has also talked about cutting entitlements, including in a March CNBC interview, which has prompted senior advocacy groups to endorse Biden.
The National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare endorsed President Joe Biden for the 2024 race in June, in only the second time it has made such an endorsement in its history after it also endorsed Biden in 2020.
On Tuesday, the National Committee announced its endorsement of Harris for president.
Social Security Works, which also endorsed Biden, is endorsing Harris now, too, according to Nancy Altman, the organization’s president.
“I think she’s going to be even better,” Altman said of Harris’ policies for seniors.
As senator, Harris was a co-sponsor of the Social Security Expansion Act, which calls for expanding benefits while raising taxes on the wealthy. As part of the Biden administration, she has helped to lower Medicare prescription drug costs.