Rich and Nancy Perrotte of Ross have a lot in common with many couples in their mid-60s.

Retirees, they feel secure in their own finances. A trip to The Meadows Racetrack & Casino -- where they joined others in the crowded parking lot Tuesday afternoon -- represents pleasure rather than risk.

Their concerns for the future have more to do with the success of their children and grandchildren than themselves. The $49,000 in annual costs for a granddaughter to attend George Washington University stuns them, even though it's not their bill to pay.

And when the Perrottes look at a president who will need to address not just college costs but also surging fuel prices, an economic slump, a troubled health care system and the war in Iraq, their No. 1 priority -- in a word -- is "experience."

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In the Democratic race for president, they equate experience with New York Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton. The Perrottes and other steady voters who grew up watching presidential candidates on black-and-white televisions are the ones who -- if polls hold true -- will make Mrs. Clinton the winner over Illinois Sen. Barack Obama in Pennsylvania's April 22 primary election.

"Some people are voting [for Obama] as a protest with the way things are going, to say they want change, but I prefer Hillary because she's already been in there," said Rich Perrotte, who used to run a furniture business. "She's with Bill Clinton, too, and he knows the ropes. When they were in the White House, the years were good to us."

Older Democrats are backing Mrs. Clinton, across the nation as well as in Pennsylvania, as though she had called for doubling their Social Security benefits (which she hasn't).

A Pew Research Center national poll conducted two weeks ago found her leading Mr. Obama 51 percent to 33 percent among registered Democrats 65 and older.

Mrs. Clinton's lead more among older Pennsylvanians is even greater, with those 55 and up preferring her 55 percent to 29 percent, according to a Franklin & Marshall College survey in mid-March of those deemed likely voters.

The only thing as striking demographically in this historic Democratic campaign is how consistently Mr. Obama has led among young voters, at least everywhere but Pennsylvania. While the Franklin & Marshall poll suggested the two are tied among this state's likely voters younger than 35, people in that age group prefer Mr. Obama nationally by more than 2-to-1, according to the Pew survey.

In fact, the generation gap between the 60-year-old who would be the first female president and the 46-year-old who would be the first African American president has been consistent in virtually every state.

Exit polls have shown her winning by 20 points or so among older voters, and him winning by similar margins -- if not more -- among the youngest ones. In overall popular vote, as demonstrated across the 22 states voting on Super Tuesday, those competing strengths have balanced out to largely a dead heat.

Such a meaningful split of young vs. old this late in the election cycle is rare, perhaps even unprecedented in modern times.

"I've been wracking my brain and I honestly cannot recall an election with quite the generational elements to it as this one," said Scott Keeter, Pew's director of survey research. He noted that one major difference stoked by Mr. Obama this year is the degree to which young people are taking part to balance out older voters.

Traditionally, seniors are far more likely to vote than their children or grandchildren, which is part of the reason for Mrs. Clinton's commanding lead in Pennsylvania polling.

The state has the third-highest percentage of residents over 65 after Florida and West Virginia. There are several hundred thousand more potential Pennsylvania voters over 55 than under 35. In a recent AARP poll of Pennsylvanians over age 50, more than half said they always vote and another one-fourth said they vote most of the time.

Such factors all work to Mrs. Clinton's advantage, said political science professor Terry Madonna, the Franklin & Marshall pollster.

"I don't know that when you're 65 or 70, the message of change" is what's important, he said. "They look at Clinton as more of a known product with a more specific agenda."

In a group of five elderly, perennial voters discussing the election at the Center in the Woods senior center in California, Washington County, last week, the support for Mrs. Clinton wasn't as clear. According to 87-year-old Monessen resident Mildred Furio, it was crystal clear among her other peers,

"I was in the beauty parlor and every woman there was talking about voting for Hillary," she said. "They want a woman in there. They think it's time."

"At my parlor too," chimed her sister, Margaret McKita, two years younger.

Mrs. Furio, however, said she isn't sure she wants a woman in office when a war is going on. Her husband, Romeo, a proud veteran of World War II battles in the Pacific, is a registered Democrat supporting Republican Arizona Sen. John McCain because he trusts him more on security issues.

"He's a veteran, and I'm a veteran, and he knows a little more about fighting a war," said Mr. Furio.

There are plenty of other older voters who spoke of souring on the war, however, without drawing much distinction between Mr. Obama's opposition to it from the outset and Mrs. Clinton's more recent turn against it.

"If we get out of the war, we'll have the money to take care of the rest of our finances," said Jack Heim, 87, an AARP activist from Avalon. "We're so far in debt right now, it's pathetic, and it's going to be our grandchildren that pay for it.

"I think both [Mrs. Clinton and Mr. Obama] really want to help, but somehow I just don't have the feeling for Obama that I do for her. ... She's a very active girl in getting things done."

Both Democratic contenders are in good standing among the advocacy groups that lobby nationally on senior citizens' issues. Their stances on Social Security, Medicare, help for family caregivers and other matters have drawn no sharp distinctions between them.

Mrs. Clinton is credited with more leadership on senior issues than her younger counterpart, but lobbyists say her longer Senate tenure is a key factor in that.

In fact, Mrs. Clinton's bond with older voters may simply reflect the fact that she is more like them. Women outnumber men in older age groups, which are also less racially diverse than younger groups, noted Susan MacManus, a University of South Florida political science professor who tracks the habits of elderly voters.

This election's generation gap "is not really the issues so much as history and breaking down barriers and a new face," Dr. MacManus said. "This time out younger people are not looking for experience. They're looking for something different, and older people who care about global politics are looking for more experience."

In fact, multiple senior citizens who were interviewed last week commented that Mr. Obama's race affected their willingness to vote for him -- though they didn't necessarily want to be quoted about it.

On the flip side, 55-year-old Hazelwood resident Waldren Jones is part of two demographic groups that might normally tilt toward Mrs. Clinton, but leans the other way. She is an African American, old enough to remember how the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King and other civil rights leaders had to fight on behalf of black voters.

She will vote for Mr. Obama to support her race, the health care aide said. The younger senator also has won over white voter Charlotte Bigler, 67, of Rochester, who got close enough to hug him at his recent speaking appearance at Beaver County Community College.

"Maybe people think I'm a woman, so I should vote for Hillary, but it's a long time since [my husband and I] felt very good about our country, as far as where we're going," said Ms. Bigler, a retired nurse. "When we first heard Barack, something kind of touched us. ... I saw somebody who may be able to go to Washington and work with Republicans, because otherwise we may not get anything done in America."

Pew's Mr. Keeter said older voters are generally more tolerant of conflict in the political process as the natural course before two sides reach resolution. Younger people are more likely to find appeal in Mr. Obama's message of reducing confrontation in Washington, the pollster said.

One certainty if Mr. Obama becomes the nominee is that the 2008 election's generation gap would be repeated in a fall race between him and the 71-year-old Mr. McCain. Mrs. Clinton would presumably compete better than Mr. Obama among older voters in November; her question mark is how many of those young voters currently supporting Mr. Obama would switch to her.