Can Democrats Win Back Old People?

 Here's a chart:

It is too small to read, so here's a link.

What's interesting about this is what Republicans and Democrats think are important in the BBB plan. Republicans really like adding dental and vision to Medicare, long term care coverage, prescription drug pricing and pandemic preparedness. Democrats also like those things, but Democrats are more fired up for taxing the wealthy and pursuing clean energy.

Or to put it another way: Republicans are old people.

Some of those old people once voted Democratic, but they switched because "crime" or "Socialism" or what have you. The culture wars that animate both sides have driven some Olds into the Republican party, because they simply can't grok the idea of being transgender or the fact that Christopher Columbus was, in fact, a huge gaping asshole of a human being or maybe some of the police are racist bullies. 

As W.E.B. DuBois explained, White Southerners will vote against their economic interests, if it means perpetuating a system of White supremacy that benefits them socially. I think that's a little less compelling, but it's also clear that a program (unlike the one that Sinema says she supports) could benefit Democrats among older Lean Republican voters. The fact that Manchinema have been resistant to providing various programs and breaks for the Olds is just political malpractice, given the aging demographics of their states. 

I do not think that simply passing BBB will suddenly transform a bunch of Boomer Republicans into Democrats. But again, elections are so tight right now, that simply peeling off 5% of Republican support could be the difference between a Democratic House and Senate in 2022 and a collapse of democracy with a Trump election in 2024.

Give the social activists a wink and a nod. Carry out their agenda quietly where you can. Be very public with taxing the rich (if you can get that past Manchinema) and providing better care for the Olds (and the Youngs). 

If the future of democracy in this country really does depend on lancing the festering boil of Trumpism in 2022-24, then you have to move on this.