BY SANDY THEIS
Enquirer Columbus Bureau
COLUMBUS -- They already have changed our fashions and our food, made rock 'n' roll respectable and decided that -- at least when picking a president -- character doesn't matter much after all.
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BOOMER POLL
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See how Fisher and Taft replied to some light-hearted and not-so-light-hearted questions. |
Now the Baby Boomers -- 30 percent of the voting-age population -- could decide whether Ohio's next governor will be Republican Bob Taft or Democrat Lee Fisher.
"They're No. 1," said Democratic political analyst Gerald Austin. "Senior citizens vote, so you have to pay attention to them. After having said that, (Baby Boomers) are the No. 1 targeted group. They vote more than the younger people -- and not as much as the older people -- but there are so many more of them that they are a force unto themselves."
Baby Boomers now are ages 34 to 53. Seniors (65 and older) vote more often but represent just 17 percent of the eligible voters, while 18- to 24-year-olds are about 13 percent, according to Census Bureau analyst Jennifer Day.
In addition to their large size, politicians court the Boomers, because they often are not wedded to one party or the other, said Terry Casey, a Columbus-based Republican analyst.
"They're so important, because they're so volatile," he said. "They're more open to change, just like they are when making consumer decisions."
So what do the Boomers really care about?
"Money," Mr. Austin said.
"A lot of the folks we call Baby Boomers may have been active politically in their early years, but they've gone to suburbia and . . . their political concerns now center on protecting what they have."
Public-opinion polls routinely show long-term financial concerns among the Baby Boomers' list of top issues. And in a recent survey by the Equitable Life Assurance Society, Baby Boomers said their biggest financial concern is their children's education. Given the Boomers' concern for their children and for their wallets, the Ohio candidates for governor often propose initiatives in the name of "families" or "children," while mindful of the parents' bottom line.
For example, Mr. Taft wants to develop a "Kids Card," which would provide discounts to parents of children through their sixth birthdays. Modeled after the Golden Buckeye Card, retailers would participate voluntary.
He called the cards "a way to put more in the pockets of working families."
He has offered plans to curb school violence, boost public school reading programs and increase state aid for schools and school buildings. He insists each can be done without higher taxes.
He and Mr. Fisher both supported the May 5 ballot initiative to hike the state sales tax by 20 percent to help fund school reforms. After voters defeated it by a ratio of 4 to 1, each stressed the need to improve schools but not raise taxes.
Mr. Fisher emphasizes the need to reform managed care.
"Working families want their doctors, not their insurance companies, practicing medicine," he said recently.
He has offered plans to expand health coverage for children and increase state aid for schools and school buildings, changes he argues can be made without raising any taxes.
Both also seem insistent on trying to convince the Boomers they are one of them.
"Let's rock 'n' roll," bellowed Mr. Taft, as he kicked off a campaign bus tour earlier this summer. Never mind that his glove box is filled with classical music or that he couldn't name his favorite Beatle.
When asked to explain the "rock 'n' roll" send-off, Taft spokesman Brett Buerck said, "Bob and Elvis have the same birthday."
In speeches and in his new TV commercial, Mr. Taft highlights his three-year stint in the Peace Corps.
At a campaign stop in Warren during the primary season, Mr. Fisher made an impromptu appearance as a keyboard player with the high school band. He can wax on about his favorite Beatle -- Paul McCartney -- and fondly recalls buying his first record: "Can't Buy Me Love." Both candidates also offer constant reminders that they -- like so many Boomers -- are parents, too.
Mr. Fisher's lone primary campaign commercial featured him reading a book to his daughter, Jessica, and playing basketball with his son, Jason.
Mr. Taft's campaign brochure and campaign video offer extensive pictures of him and his wife, Hope, and their daughter, Anna.
The children, Mr. Casey said, help send a message that the candidates understand what families are going through.
"They need to show they understand what it is like to juggle a career and a family and show they're just a regular guy," he said. At 47, Mr. Fisher is a Baby Boomer himself and concedes that he took part in what, for some, were rites of passage.
He smoked marijuana in college "a few times," but didn't like it. He protested the war in Vietnam, although briefly. His hair was long, but never hit his shoulders. And he still expresses anger over the day Ohio National Guard troops shot four students during Vietnam war protests at Kent State University.
At age 55, Mr. Taft just misses the Boomer generation, which includes those born right after World War II (they'd be about 53) and lasted through the mid-1960s.
He says he never smoked pot, he served as a State Department employee in Vietnam and kept his hair neatly cropped at all times, although he sported bodacious sideburns during much of the 1970s.
He refers to the Kent State shootings as an "overreaction and . . mishandling by public officials" that "led to tragic personal consequences." Then-Gov. James A. Rhodes deployed the troops but never conceded any wrongdoing or even any overreaction. At the time, Gov. Rhodes was trailing in a tough U.S. senatorial primary against Mr. Taft's father, then-U.S. Rep. Robert Taft Jr.
Despite differences between Mr. Fisher and Mr. Taft, some analysts say they're very much alike.
"Both of these guys look like they were members of the chess club when they were in high school," said Curt Steiner, Gov. George Voinovich's chief of staff. "Because of that, you have two candidates who have the appearance of being good, clean folks."
