Dem
51
GOP
49
Let's keep going on this subject a bit more. There have been endless stories about "Joe Biden is too old," but a closer look at the data reveals something interesting. Recent polls have shown among younger voters (under 30), Biden's approval rating is 38%, despite that cohort being strongly Democratic. But polls have also shown that among seniors (65+) it is 49%, about 5 points above his overall approval rating. And remember, seniors tend to vote for Republicans.
Also note that seniors are the most reliable voters. In 2020, 72% of eligible seniors voted vs. 48% of under 25s. Put in other words, despite all the stories about "Biden is too old," high-turnout seniors, who normally vote Republican, like him. That's not such a bad place to be, really. Here are the data since 1964. They are pretty consistent.
Going back to 1975, only three Democratic presidential candidates have carried the senior vote (Bill Clinton twice and Al Gore once). Since 2000, no Democratic candidate has won seniors. In 2020, different surveys showed that Trump beat Biden by somewhere in the range of 3-7 points among seniors. If that group splits evenly now that will help Biden.
Also potentially helpful to Biden is that the size of the senior cohort is growing. In 2010, only 13% of the population was 65 or more. In 2020, that was 17%. So not only are there more seniors than there used to be, and not only do they turn out to vote at higher rates than any other age group, but they look increasingly favorably at old candidates. Here are how many votes each of five age groups cast in 2020. As you can see, seniors cast about a quarter of the total votes despite being only 17% of the population (due to their high turnout rate):
| Cohort | Votes | Pct. |
| 18-24 | 13,752,000 | 9% |
| 25-34 | 24,091,000 | 16% |
| 35-44 | 23,421,000 | 15% |
| 45-64 | 53,646,000 | 35% |
| ≥65 | 39,718,000 | 26% |
All the talk about "Biden is too old" probably rubs a lot of 65+ voters the wrong way. Some of them are invalids and feel really old, but others are out golfing, playing pickle ball, traveling, and engaging in other activities, and don't at all like the idea that once you are 80, you are feeble and useless. Republicans are expected to run many ads this cycle about how old Biden is, but they should be careful about that. Annoying a large cohort that has a very good voting record and is expected to cast over a quarter of the total votes may not be a smart move. (V)