FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
December 15, 2011
CONTACT:
Media Relations
202-434-2560
media@aarp.org
AARP Launches On-Line “Voter Profile” on Retirement Security Issues
Highlights Facts Presidential Candidates, Media & General Public Need to Know About 50+ Voters in Early States
WASHINGTON —With less than three weeks before voters take to the polls to select the Republican Presidential nominee, AARP is launching a resource to provide a closer look at the people who will have a large role in deciding the election: older voters in the first five presidential nominating states.
Today, AARP launched a “Voter Profile” tool on the Association’s 2012 Voter Education Campaign website, www.AARP.org/YouEarnedIt, to highlight key statistics on important retirement security issues in Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina, Florida, and Nevada. This new web feature adds to AARP’s tool box of user-friendly resources, including:
• AARP’s 2012 Republican Presidential Candidates Video Voters’ Guide featuring one-on-one, unedited interviews on the issues of jobs and the economy, retirement savings, Social Security, and Medicare;
• A “Question the Candidates” section where people can contact the GOP Presidential hopefuls and ask them questions on their priority issues with the click of a mouse; and,
• State-by-state likely Republican voter surveys conducted in IA, NH, SC, and FL on the issues that matter most to them, including those on jobs and economy, retirement savings, Social Security, and Medicare.
AARP’s Voter Profile delivers basic information on the expected average age of caucus goers/primary voters in each of the first five nominating states, the median income in households led by people ages 50-64 and 65+, unemployment rate for older worker households, basic statistics on Social Security and Medicare, and number of AARP members in each state.
“This on-line Voter Profile tool will educate the Republican Presidential candidates, the media, as well as the general public learn more about 50+ voters and key statistics on critical retirement security concerns in Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina, Florida, and Nevada,” said Pete Jeffries, AARP’s National Campaigns Field Manager. “The Voter Profile also clearly illustrates that we expect an older turnout for these early contests, which is why retirement security issues take on a greater importance and must continue to be injected into the national debate.”
AARP kicked off its Voter Education Campaign for the 2011-2012 Presidential Election Cycle in mid-August at the Iowa Straw Poll held in Ames, Iowa. The Association has focused on raising awareness and creating visibility of retirement security issues by hosting interactive Listening Posts in the early nominating states in order to hear the views of likely caucus goers/primary voters; sponsoring Media Filing Centers and/or Post-Debate Reaction “Spin” Rooms in the early nominating states; and tracking the Republican Presidential candidates to hear their views on retirement security issues and to participate in their question & answer sessions along the campaign trail in all of the early states. AARP has also conducted surveys of likely caucus goer/primary voter attitudes on issues most important to them in IA, NH, SC and FL, as well launched the first-ever Video Voters’ Guide on the Presidential level with one-on-one, unedited interviews with the Republican candidates, which are available at www.AARP.org/YouEarnedIt.
For more than 25 years, AARP has been engaged in non-partisan voter education activities. AARP does not have a political action committee and does not endorse candidates or contribute to their campaigns. AARP’s voter education activities are designed to encourage members and the general public to exercise their constitutional right to vote and to highlight the issues that affect Americans age 50+ and their families with the Presidential candidates and their campaigns.
About AARP
AARP is a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization with a membership that helps people 50+ have independence, choice and control in ways that are beneficial and affordable to them and society as a whole. AARP does not endorse candidates for public office or make contributions to either political campaigns or candidates. We produce AARP The Magazine, the definitive voice for 50+ Americans and the world's largest-circulation magazine with nearly 35 million readers; AARP Bulletin, the go-to news source for AARP's millions of members and Americans 50+; AARP VIVA, the only bilingual U.S. publication dedicated exclusively to the 50+ Hispanic community; and our website, AARP.org. AARP Foundation is an affiliated charity that provides security, protection, and empowerment to older persons in need with support from thousands of volunteers, donors, and sponsors. We have staffed offices in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
