From Jan. 2 to May 5, 2009, Gallup conducted a survey of 123,890 national adults, aged 18 and older, as part of Gallup Poll Daily tracking.

While the overall findings of the survey aren’t surprising, with Democratic partisanship holding a majority of support across the board, especially with younger voters, Gallup’s breakout analysis does give some greater insight into age and generational breaks.

What I like best about this survey is the massive amount of interviews conducted.  This allows for a high confidence level across all age and generational breaks.

Here are the findings of the Gallup Survey as summarized by Gallup’s FRANK NEWPORT:

PART 1: PARTY ID BY AGE BREAK

•Democrats currently enjoy a party identification advantage over Republicans among Americans at every age between 18 to 85.

•The Democrats’ greatest advantages come among those in their 20s and baby boomers in their late 40s and 50s.

•Republicans, on the other hand, come closest to parity with Democrats among Generation Xers in their late 30s and early 40s and among seniors in their late 60s.

INDEPENDENT

•The percentage of Americans who identify as Democrats follows still a different path.

•Democrats are quite strong among the youngest Americans, particularly those under age 24, among whom more identify as Democrats than independents.

•The percent Democrat stays at about the one-third mark until about age 45, when it climbs slightly and remains higher through the 50s and early 60s.

•From that point on, the percent Democrat hovers around the 40% point, although there is quite a bit of fluctuation from age to age for Americans in their late 60s, 70s, and early 80s.

AGE DEMO SUMMARY

•Republicans do relatively well (although are still at a net disadvantage) among Generation X’ers.

GENERATION X - Generation X (30 to 44) includes some of the strongest support for Republicans. For whatever reasons, the Democratic over Republican gap among Generation Xers, particularly those ages 37 to 43 at the heart of this generation, is on a relative basis much closer to parity than for any other age group with the exception of those in their late 60s.

Again, for anyone who is a professional or student of politics, these findings are not shocking.  There are normal partisan shifts a few years and every few generations in politics.

The most important factor is understanding the socio-cultural issues and the  events that impact a generation, which usually will convey a partisan disposition toward one party or another.  This overall party pre-disposition is also heavily impacted by the perceived performance of the president in power when the voter turned 18, the voting age in America.

The most important voting sector to political operatives and strategists are the voters that tend to shift with fluctuations in party performance and alignment with voters values and beliefs, regardless of their generational pre-disposition.

 

A recent Nielsen Homescan analysis on the shopping habits of Obama and McCain supporters was reported in a article titled, Retail Politics: Shopping Insights For Obama & McCain Voters

The analysis shows notable differences in the shopping habits and holiday spending expectations of the American voter. The panel’s voting intent (55% Obama / 45% McCain) was similar to the actual nationwide election results (53% / 47%) and mirrored the state-by-state victories in all but three of the 48 contiguous states.

According to Nielsen Homescan, voters who favored Obama, tended to make more frequent trips across all outlets combined and in traditional retail channels.  While McCain voters may have made fewer trips, they visited the retail giant WalMart at a higher rate, and tend to outspend Democratic voters in terms of per-trip dollars.

Interestingly, despite massive electoral losses and concern about the prospect of higher taxes, the report also showed that McCain voters are slightly more optimistic about holiday spending. McCain voters also expressed more optimism about spending on entertainment inside and outside the home.

Nielson has a more in-depth presentation of these findings, with bar charts and all, here