72 Is Too Old To Be The President of the United States
Todd Beeton at MyDD notes a change in coverage.
…while McCain has played his age for humor, the media has largely considered connecting McCain’s gaffes and his age taboo. The sheer volume and frequency of McCain’s errors may have rendered that deference obsolete.
Cue The Politico, which in a piece today finally addresses the elephant in the room, as it were, vis a vis McCain’s numerous confusions.
Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) said “Iraq” on Monday when he apparently meant “Afghanistan”, adding to a string of mixed-up word choices that is giving ammunition to the opposition.
Just in the past three weeks, McCain has also mistaken “Somalia” for “Sudan,” and even football’s Green Bay Packers for the Pittsburgh Steelers.Ironically, the errors have been concentrated in what should be his area of expertise: foreign affairs.
And then Mike Allen and Jim Vandehai go there:
McCain will turn 72 the day after Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) accepts his party’s nomination for president at the age of 47, calling new attention to the sensitive issue of McCain’s advanced age three days before the start of his own convention. […]
McCain’s mistakes raise a serious, if uncomfortable question: Are the gaffes the result of his age? And what could that mean in the Oval Office?
McCain supporters can either say, “No, he is not too old” or they can allow that he is old, but that McCain will be surrounded by sensible people.
Gee…Where have I heard that before?
I am convinced that McCain has an early stage of either dementia or senility. He forgets, then he gets angry. It explains his much talked about temper.
But then again, I am no doctor, and his famous temper could mean he is just an asshole and his forgetfulness could mean he is just dumb.
bigotry lives
Bigotry? This speaks to qualifications. Mental competence is a qualification to be President. McCain’s advanced age makes him susceptible to any number of illnesses, mental or otherwise. His neverending gaffes raises questions that need to be raised, especially since we are trusting him with the launch codes.
To equate this to bigotry is beyond disgusting.
That is one in the “No, he is not too old” column.
I for one applaud him for not retiring at 65 and eating up my social security!
(sic) “No, he is not too old” or they can allow that he is old, but that McCain will be surrounded by sensible people.
Gee…Where have I heard that before?
Ronald Reagan
RuthAnn Minner
Oh, DTB, if only it were so. However, McCain has been receiving full Social Security disability payments since his return from the Vietnam War.
I am not denying the fact that he is entitled to those payments, but I wonder about the propriety of it since he has been employed fulltime as a Congressman and a Senator since 1980.
That’s it! The flip-flopping is actually a physical therapy exercise. It keeps him in shape and keeps age at bay. When he fails to become President, it can be a new exercise craze.
Flip-flop your way to a younger, healthier you.
LG – I guess Obamas getting a head start on his physical therapy exercises then?
McCain is far more “with it” than Obama when engaged in non-scripted speeches, despite his age.
Jason –
You probably don’t realize this because you’re so hyper-focused on your Obama love, but your consistent attacks on McCain’s age are just as offensive as the racist remarks people hurl at Obama.
You are categorizing an entire class of people as being doddering fools and conveniently forgetting that senior citizens are the most dependable voting block in the country; certainly more dependable than the Obama supporters’ demographic (youth and African Americans). Don’t forget that people generally improve and mature with age. I read the comments of some of the older posters on this board and I’m humbled by their knowledge. Perhaps you would do well to set aside your immaturity and obsession with your demigod for five minutes and try to learn something from them.
Deldem – I normally see somewhat eye to eye with your opinions; however, I really think you’re wrong here.
Obama likely misspeaks as often as McCain, but McCain is automatically attacked for it because of his age. Just because someone is 72 doesn’t mean he’s lost his faculties. There are plenty of seniors who are just as sharp as they were in their 40’s. You can’t lump them all together anymore than you can lump all African Americans together in terms of their intellectual capacity. How offended would you be if someone jumped on Obama’s every bumbled phrase as being the result of his race? Sorry, but bigotry is bigotry regardless of the target.
Dominique, I agree that age does impart wisdom and experience, and if you have conversations with older people, its amazing what you can learn.
However, the Presidency is perhaps the most grueling job in the world (assuming the person performing the job gives a crap), and based on pictures of Carter, Clinton and Nixon adds about 7 dog years to the age of the holder for every term. I know an 80 year old guy who is an expert at laying concrete, but he can’t handle four hours on a jackhammer any more.
Dom…
It is not McCain’s age that I am attacking, it is his mental competence due to a possible illness or condition like dementia or senility. I suppose I do discriminate against people who are mentally incompetent wanting to be President. Fine. I will accept that.
But I do prefer that a person possess his facilities while running the free world.
The point was made above that McCain truly was a hero while a POW, but several years of intense torture does take its toll (ask anyone at Gitmo). As DD said, we can honor him, but that doesn’t mean we want him to be President.
My father is McCain’s age and sharp as a tack, and he constantly says that McCain is too old, that the job would be too much for him. In fact, almost every senior I’ve spoken to cites McCain’s age as a problem. Perhaps that’s wisdom.
Yes, it is not “ageism” to point out that the job is demanding, mentally and physically, and that, as we all age, we lose certain physical and mental abilities. But even still, I would not be writing about McCain’s age if I were not worried that McCain was suffering from a condition that impairs his mental competence.
To put it plainly, even if he was young he’s still to dumb to be President (this statement is not based on intelligence of prior President, I mean Presidents).
If you run for president you are fair game on every front, and you know that when you sign up.
That having been said, throwing around words like senility and dementia without having a clue what the clinical definitions are is not exactly responsible behavior.
McCain’s gaffes are primarily aphaisic (the involuntary or unconscious substitution of one word–often similar sounding–for another). If you look at the record carefully, McCain has suffered from aphasia throughout his entire public career. Aphasia is not considered, especially in people who have manifested it for years, to be a sign of senility or dementia.
I don’t support McCain, and wouldn’t vote for him. His age is certainly a legitimate factor in the campaign.
However, to start calling somebody senile on the basis of aphasia reveals a lot more about the person casting the aspersions and their willingness to say anything necessary to win an election than it does about the candidate.
(Obama, by the way, appears to suffer from a slight stutter that often makes him place words in the wrong place in a sentence. This tends to show up in impromptu interviews. Does that make him mentally incompetent?)
Wonder what the conservatives would’ve been saying all this time if the Dem nominee was Kennedy or Byrd?
Indeed.
Kennedy, it wouldn’t be his age that would be the issue. It would be his leftist record and a bridge. King of Pork Robert kkk Byrd I have said enough.
So, I guess with McCain it’s the Keating Five? Ain’t history fun!
The flip side of that, VC, is what would Liberals be saying if the candidate was Kennedy or Byrd?