Politicians can't ignore new concerns of older voters

A new kind of rock-the-vote effort is emerging. It's a rock the rockin' chair vote kinda effort. It's a "we've been alternatively ignored or taken for granted and we're not sitting still for it anymore" kinda effort. It's one of the more exciting transpirings in an otherwise vexing political season spent largely refighting an already-lost war of long ago.

Politicians may have become callously hubristic about the senior vote. Yes, seniors traditionally turn out in greater numbers than younger voters and so politicians presume their participation. They cater to them and woo them but both major parties do so with rather stereotypically sneering views of seniors that are in dire need of updating. Conventional wisdom has it, seniors have two political concerns: Social Security and Medicare.

Baby boom seniors, as they have all their lives, are trashing these limited, preconceived notions and leading the charge over the fence. They know best what makes Granny tick. And it's not what you think. It's quite the opposite.

The American Association of Retired Persons (AARP) surveyed New Hampshire voters over age 55 earlier this year. Results showed the vast majority are more interested in issues affecting future generations than they are about their own pocketbook concerns. Seventy-nine percent cited the economy and job-creation (79 percent) as paramount when selecting a presidential candidate. Sixty-one percent chose improving education over issues more traditionally seen as "senior" issues. By comparison, a smaller 59 percent cited preserving Medicare as important when selecting a presidential candidate, and 56 percent cited expanding Medicare to include prescription drug coverage.

A bipartisan survey last year by Lake, Snell, Perry & Associations and the Tarrance Group revealed 88 percent of older voters prefer candidates who listen to younger voters than ones who focus on seniors' concerns.

This is the opposite of the Me Generation. It's the Us Generation.

A small group of influential female members of this age group decided to re-harness the power they had seized decades earlier and to re-hone the organizing skills they devised in the 1960s and 70s. This time they're organizing seniors to stand up and receive the political acclamation they deserve.

They've transformed the rocking chair from a symbol of decline and inactivity to a symbol of power and action. They've defined "Granny" to include grandmas and grandpas and anyone over the age of 48 (the age the average American becomes a first-time grandparent). They want politicians to take notice of the New American Grandparent: an active, informed, involved voter whose concerns are universal, not parochial.