‘He’s sort of an old soul’: Why Pete Buttigieg does better with the older voters than younger ones

WALPOLE, N.H. –  After supporting Sen. Bernie Sanders’ 2016 presidential campaign, Clarence Boston wanted to check out a fresh face for 2020.

The 29-year-old likes Pete Buttigieg’s youth, his military experience, as well as “what he says and how he says it.”

But when Boston traveled from his home in Vermont to attend a Buttigieg town hall in New Hampshire last month, one thing surprised him about the large crowd.

“I don’t see as many young people as I expected,” Boston said.

One of the oddities of the 2020 presidential contest is that Buttigieg, the youngest candidate at age 37, draws his lowest support from the youngest voters and is best liked by the oldest.

“I think he’s sort of an old soul,” said Rick Carman, a 67-year-old from Exeter, N.H., who attended a barn party for Buttigieg and likes the idea of a new generation taking the political helm.

Yet the 78-year-old Sanders, who will be the nation’s oldest-ever president if elected, continues to dominate among the youngest voters, as he did in 2016.

“I was a big fan of Bernie Sanders when I was 18 years old,” Buttigieg, who wrote an award-winning essay on Sanders in high school, told CBS recently when asked why he isn’t drawing more support from younger voters.

More than a generation separates Pete Buttigieg, the youngest Democratic presidential candidate, from the three oldest contenders: Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, former Vice President Joe Biden, and Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren. (Photo: SAUL LOEB, AFP via Getty Images)

From the debate: Warren criticizes Buttigieg over Swarovski crystal-encrusted wine cave fundraiser

No political analogy

It’s still early. And in Iowa and New Hampshire, the states where the previously-little known Buttigieg has spent the most time, polls show he is drawing more support among younger voters there than he is nationally. But those polls also show it’s the oldest voters who like him best and the youngest who are the least receptive.

“It’s hard to find a political analogy,” said Ruy Teixeira, co-director of the Center for American Progress’ project on demographics and democracy. “In the last 10-15 years, can we think of a candidate that young who has appealed more to older voters than younger voters?”

Even Buttigieg, who saw the same phenomenon when he first ran for mayor of South Bend, Indiana, at age 29, can’t explain it.

“It’s hard for me to understand,” Buttigieg told reporters traveling on his bus in New Hampshire last month. “But we’ve definitely noticed the pattern.”

People listen as Democratic presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg speaks at a town hall at the Walpole Middle School on Nov/ 10, 2019 in Walpole, New Hampshire. (Photo: Joe Raedle, Getty Images)

Ideological split

Some of the difference in appeal may be ideological. 

In a December Economist/YouGov national poll of all adults, younger respondents – who are more liberal than older respondents – were much less likely than their older counterparts to describe Buttigieg as liberal.

That plays out on some particular issues like health care and college costs.

Sanders and Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren want to make public college free for everyone. Buttigieg would make public schools free for families earning up to $100,000, with some assistance offered to those earning up to $150,000.  Former Vice President Joe Biden backs free tuition at two-year community colleges. 

Sanders and Warren are promising “Medicare for All.” Buttigieg and Biden would build on the 2010 Affordable Care Act by expanding subsidies for private insurance and adding a government-run plan.

Younger voters are more likely to back a single-payer health care system while older voters are more supportive of keeping the current arrangement, said Mary Snow, a polling analyst with Quinnipiac University Poll.

“That’s one of the issues that gives us a little bit of insight into perhaps one of the reasons why he has stronger numbers among older voters than younger,” Snow said.

Universal health care and college affordability are the two issues Spencer Armstrong, a computer science student at the University of Iowa, mentioned when asked why he’s leaning towards backing Sanders in the Democratic caucus.

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