Being an older white man, Joe Biden, 77, has an opportunity to cut into the long-held, Republican stronghold voting bloc in that demographic, according to The New York Times.
It has been over two decades since a Democrat won or broke even with voters over 65, but Biden – who will turn 78 this November – is tied in polling among senior citizens in the latest Times and Siena College polls.
Trump beat Hillary Clinton by 7 percentage points on over-65 voters in 2016 and he won white seniors by "nearly triple that margin," per the Times.
Two battlegrounds Trump desperately needs to win are Arizona and Florida, two of the largest retirement community states.
Also, the global coronavirus pandemic that attacks elderly citizens has battleground seniors disapproving of Trump's handling of the virus by 7 percentage points 52% to 45%. By a 26-point margin, elderly citizens also said the of the federal government should put the pandemic over the reopening of the economy.
Biden also is a centrist who might appeal to older voters as the alternative now to Trump.
"He's not ever been known to be a radical or an extreme leftist or liberal, so there is certainly a degree of comfort there," ex-Rep. Carlos Curbelo, R-Fla., told the Times.
"This public health crisis is so threatening, especially to seniors, and because the president hasn't earned high marks in his handling of it, I think that has also been a factor in Biden's improving numbers."
Eric Mack ✉
Eric Mack has been a writer and editor at Newsmax since 2016. He is a 1998 Syracuse University journalism graduate and a New York Press Association award-winning writer.
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