A surprising Boomers' poll. Rolling Stone no more

Rolling Stone! I'm not a leading edge Boomer, more in the middle cohort that came of age in the mid- 70's early '80's with Carter/Reagan, but look at this old poll I didn't know about, not being a reader of that rag:

But the natural conservatizing effects of aging were also becoming evident in these 1980s polls. The passions of youth had been tempered by the practical reality of marriages, children and mortgages. Nearly 7 in 10 in the Rolling Stone poll said they were more family oriented than they thought they would be. When asked about changes from their parents' generation, 59% said more-permissive attitudes about sex were a change for the worse (31% thought it was for the better), 67% said more single parenthood was a change for the worse, and 72% said they thought less religious training for children was a change for the worse.

I guess somebody had to have elected Reagan:)  And look at this group now:

The ideological reorientation of early boomers that began in the 1980s has continued. Two of the country's best long-running surveys show how those born between 1943 and 1958, the so-called near-olds at the front of the baby boom, have changed. In the 1972 American National Election Study survey, 30% of today's near-olds called themselves liberals. In 2008, 12% did. The proportion calling themselves conservative rose from 21% to 46%. In 1972, 51% of eligible voters in the early baby boom cohort called themselves Democrats and 29% Republicans. In 2008, 45% said they were Democrats and 48% said they were Republicans. The National Opinion Research Center's data also show a substantial increase (18 points) between 1974 and 2010 in conservative identification for the near-old cohort and a smaller movement in the GOP's direction. Those born between 1927 and 1942 changed far less in both surveys.

Yeah, some of the impending adult diaper-set are TEA partiers worried about their kids and grandkids.

Another poll, this one from Gallup--upper income Americans join the middle class in their pessimism--in fact, they're more pessimistic. That's a key Obama constituency, and he's losing it. For good reason:

Upper-income Americans' sharp decline in optimism about the future direction of the economy may be related in part to the volatility on Wall Street, concerns about the federal deficit, the lack of new action by the Fed, and growing concerns about a European financial crisis. Like all other Americans, those with higher incomes tend to be concerned about high unemployment rates, increasing job insecurity, high food and energy prices, and a general lack of confidence in the government's ability to help improve the economy. The sharp decline in upper-income Americans' confidence may also reflect a growing realization among corporate managers and small-business owners -- who tend to be in the higher-income group -- that the U.S. economy is going to experience slow growth, at best, during the second half of 2011.

No #*@! This race is wide open.

HT The Instapundit