SENIORS IN THE 2008 ELECTION
Robert H. Binstock, Ph.D. - Professor of Political Science, Professor of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Professor of Aging, Health, and Society, Professor of Biomedical Ethics, Professor of Medicine, Professor of Sociology, Professor of Nursing
Friday October 24, 2008
12:30-1:30 p.m.
Crawford Hall - Room 9
Inamori Center
Case Western Reserve University
Dear Colleagues,
Once upon a time, senior voters were viewed as one of the more pro-Democratic blocs. Conservatives often argue that massive federal spending on the elderly, for Social Security and Medicare, buys seniors' votes at the expense of the rest of us.
Yet only Clinton has carried white seniors for the Democrats during the past five elections, and polls this year have shown Senator Obama doing worse among seniors in general than among the general population.
The financial market meltdown puts seniors especially at risk. The age of the candidates themselves may be an issue. The next government will be pressured by the press to "do something" about the "runaway entitlements" for the elderly. So both how the elderly will vote and how the election might affect them are key questions as we approach November 4.
We could have no better speaker to lead our discussion. Former President of the Gerontological Society of America, onetime director of the White House Task Force on Older Americans, author and editor of 25 books including Aging Nation: The Economics and Politics of Growing Older in America (2008) and six editions of the Handbook of Aging and the Social Sciences, Professor Binstock is one of world's leading scholars of aging. Please join us for a discussion that may challenge your preconceptions.
As usual, we will gather in Room 9 of the Inamori International Center for Ethics and Excellence, on the lower level of Crawford Hall, for free cookies, beverages, and brown bag lunch.
Best regards,
Joe White
About Our Guest
ROBERT H. BINSTOCK is Professor of Aging, Health, and Society, at Case Western
Reserve University. His primary appointment is in the Department of Epidemiology &
Biostatistics, in the School of Medicine. He holds secondary appointments as
Professor in the departments of Bioethics, Medicine, Political Science, Sociology, and
in the School of Nursing.
A former president of the Gerontological Society of America, Dr. Binstock has served
as director of a White House Task Force on Older Americans, and as chairman and
member of a number of advisory panels to the United States government, state and
local governments, and foundations. He is also a former Chair of the Gerontological
Health Section of the American Public Health Association. He has frequently testified
before the U.S. Congress. He is presently a member of the MacArthur Foundation’s
Aging Society Network.
Professor Binstock has published about 300 articles, book chapters, monographs, and
books. Most of them deal with politics and policies affecting aging. His 25 authored
and edited books include Aging Nation: The Economics and Politics of Growing Older
in America (2008); six editions of the Handbook of Aging and the Social Sciences (the
most recent published in 2006); and The Fountain of Youth: Cultural, Scientific, and
Ethical Perspectives on a Biomedical Goal (2004). Among the honors he has received
for contributions to gerontology and the well-being of older persons are the Kent
Award and the Brookdale Award from the Gerontological Society of America; the
Lifetime Achievement Award and the Key Award from the American Public Health
Association’s Gerontological Health Section; the American Society on Aging award;
and the American Society on Aging’s Hall of Fame Award.
He received his A.B. and Ph.D. degrees in political science from Harvard University.
Friday Lunch Upcoming Topics and Speakers:
October 31: Halloween Special: Election Preview with Karen Beckwith, Professor of Political Science; Justin Buchler, Assistant Professor of Political Science; and Andrew Lucker, Adjunct Assistant Professor of Political Science.
November 7: Responding to the Foreclosure Crisis with Jim Rokakis, Cuyahoga County Treasurer.
November 14: Charging for Car Insurance by the Mile: Good Business and Good for Energy and the Environment? With Richard Hutchinson, General Manager for the “My Rate” program, Progressive Insurance.
November 21: TBA
November 28: Thanksgiving Break
December 5: TBA
The Friday Lunch discussions are held on the lower (ground) level of
Crawford Hall. Visitors with mobility issues may find it easiest to take advantage of special arrangements we have made. On most Fridays, a few parking spaces in the V.I.P. lot in between Crawford Hall and Amasa Stone Chapel are held for participants in the lunch discussion.
Visitors then can avoid walking up the hill to the first floor of Crawford by entering the building on the ground level, through the garage area under the building. The further door on the left in that garage will be left unlocked during the period before the Friday lunch. On occasion, parking will be unavailable because of other university events.
For more information about these and other Center for Policy Studies programs,
please see http://policy.case.edu.
