Will McCain's Age Be An Issue?

Politico: Sensitive Question Could Hover Over A Candidate Who Will Be 72 By Election Day

(The Politico)  This story was written by Jonathan Martin.

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Is John McCain Ronald Reagan or Bob Dole?

Or, more to the point, will McCain be perceived as the vigorous, wood-chopping proclaimer of “Morning in America” or as a cranky senior senator prone to gaffes and the occasional stage tumble?

The sensitive question of age - one of the trickiest and most unpredictable in the political playbook - has been touched upon only glancingly since McCain became the de facto GOP nominee. But it is certain to hover over a candidate who will be 72 by Election Day.

For all the ink spilled on whether the country is ready for a woman or African-American, polls indicate that more Americans worry about having a president over 70.

And McCain’s public image is unmistakably tied to his age. Pew surveys taken in February and again last month showed that when voters are asked what word they would identify with McCain, “old” was far and away the choice.

Recent presidential history shows being a septuagenarian is not a disqualifier. Reagan was 73 in his 1984 reelection campaign and won a 49-state landslide.

Dole, however, was the same age when he ran for president in 1996 against Bill Clinton and was never really in contention.

Veterans of both campaigns agree that with McCain as the GOP nominee, age will again be an issue - and say the Reagan and Dole experiences offer the McCain team some best-case and worst-case scenarios on how to deal with it.

Ed Rollins, Reagan’s reelection campaign chief, said campaign aides knew in the years leading up to the election that age would be an issue and prepared for it.

“We showed him as very active - lifting weights, swimming, riding his horse and chopping wood,” Rollins said, recalling a Parade magazine cover story in early 1984 that detailed the president’s workout regimen.

And as he did with many troublesome questions, Reagan used his own wit and impeccable timing to defuse the age issue. He invited the topic - and then promptly disposed of it by showing just how sharp he still was.

Ken Khachigian, another key aide in the Reagan reelection effort, recalled a speech Reagan gave during an Oktoberfest celebration in Milwaukee in September 1984.

Opening his remarks, Reagan said how great it was to be back at Old Heidelberg Park.

“I can remember when they called it just plain Heidelberg Park,” Reagan said to laughs.

Later that fall, in his first debate against Democrat Walter Mondale, Reagan delivered such a weak, stumbling performance that real questions were raised about, as Khachigian put it, “whether the Gipper was losing it.”

His staff, not helping matters, said the president had been tired.

“For a few weeks, the age issue really took off,” said Bob Beckel, Mondale’s campaign manager that year. After months of laboring to find an angle against a popular incumbent blessed with a growing economy and peace abroad, the Mondale campaign had a glimmer. “He finally gave us something,” Beckel recalled.

And then he took it away.

With the is-he-too-old question on everybody’s mind heading into the second and final debate, Reagan again deployed his humor.

Asked directly if he could still function in a crisis, the former actor nailed his line.

“I want you to know that also I will not make age an issue of this campaign,” he assured, trying to be serious for the set-up. “I am not going to exploit for political purposes my opponent's youth and inexperience.”

Even Mondale had to laugh.

Twelve years later, though, Republicans were grimacing, not laughing.

Dole was on his way to defeat, brutally defined by Clinton and his campaign team as a relic who could not be trusted to lead the nation into a high-tech future.

“Our line was ‘Bilding a Bridge to the 21st Century,’” recalled Doug Schoen, one of Clinton’s pollsters. “Anybody could see Bob Dole as being irrelevant for the 21st century.”

To drive home the not-so-subtle message, Clinton cut what Schoen deemed a “negative bio ad.”

Recounting Dole’s decades in Congress, the Clinton team dredged up votes that were not only unpopular but redolent of a bygone era. “The message was: ‘He was wrong from the start,’ ” said Schoen.

Dole didn’t help himself, either. He referred to the Dodgers as playing baseball in Brooklyn; the team moved to Los Angeles in 1958.

And in September of 1996, he had what many political observers saw as a fitting moment for his plummeting campaign. Waving to supporters after a rally in Chico, Calif., Dole took a fall off the stage and had to be helped up.

For a middle-aged candidate, it may have just been good for a fleeting chuckle. But for a 73-year-old, it was the worst kind of imagery.

Democrats haven’t been so lucky yet to have a Chico moment with McCain, but there are already traces of Clinton’s rhetoric from the ’96 race.

Before attacking his potential general election rival, Barack Obama always makes certain in his stump speeches to pay homage to McCain’s patriotism - and longevity.

“John McCain has offered this country a lifetime of service, and we respect that,” Obama said recently in Evansville, Ind., “but what he’s not offering is any meaningful change from the policies of George W. Bush.”

Obama’s veiled language - the rhetorical equivalent of offering a gold watch - will apparently stay cloaked.

McCain's age is "not a topic we'll bring up,” promised Robert Gibbs, Obama’s top spokesman. “It’s not his age that's an issue, it’s his vision of a third George Bush term.”

But some Democrats already have explicitly questioned McCain’s fitness to serve at his age, including Rep. John Murtha, who himself is 75. The Clinton-backing Pennsylvanian has twice tweaked his fellow Vietnam veteran, suggesting first that the presidency was “no old man’s job” and then that McCain’s willingness to keep troops in Iraq for the long term was that of somebody who “doesn't expect to be around” for a second term.

Such shots, delivered by someone from McCain’s own generation with a smile and a chuckle, are the way the issue can be exploited, said Beckel.

“The only people who can attack on this are his age or older,” said Beckel, surmising that a contemporary could not be accused of ageism.

Trotting out a test line to be delivered by Murtha or another elder Democratic statesman, Beckel offered: “’I don’t know about John, but at 73 I can’t put up with that kind of pressure.’”

And, as Scott Reed pointed out, such an issue would have particular resonance among voters in the same age bloc.

“Seniors are the ones who really question [the age factor],” said Reed, Dole’s campaign manager in ’96. “And that’s the voting group that really turns out in national elections.”

Still, Beckel and others cautioned that using the issue against McCain would carry great risk.

“Attacking him personally about his age would have really driven our negatives,” Beckel said of Reagan in the ’84 race. Most political operatives have personally experienced the fallout that can come with trying to tar an opponent with the weight of his or her years.

McCain also has clear lines of defense. Just as the public had a degree of sympathy for Reagan’s health after his shooting in 1981, Beckel noted that the injuries McCain sustained as a POW offer some protection.

The smarter course for the Democrats, Schoen said, is to hew to the subtler path.

“Obama ought to say: ‘We’re in a different world, in a different era, with different kinds of challenges.’”

And McCain should be prepared for it because the issue isn’t going away, said Reed.

Unlike with race or gender, making light of old age is still fair game in American pop culture.

“You have to count on late-night comedians making it a mainstream issue,” said Reed.

Recalling how careful they were about Reagan’s schedule, Rollins had some advice for McCain: “Don’t try to compete with him or you will break down,” he said of the 46-year-old Obama.

And to McCain’s staff, Rollins had this: “Make sure he’s resting and eating - don’t overextend him.”

But that may be difficult given the very antidote McCain plans on using to deflect the age question.

"Watch me campaign," he shot back when asked about the matter at a conference of media executives last month in Washington. "Come on the bus again, my friends, all of you."

Another factor in addressing it, said adviser Charlie Black, is whom McCain picks for vice president.

Recalling the 1980 race, Black said the day Reagan tapped George H.W. Bush for the No. 2 slot the age issue “went away.” Americans, said Black, recognized that Bush would be up to the task in the worst-case scenario.

“I think it will have a bearing,” Black said when asked if McCain’s choice would offer similar inoculation.

“We believe it will be ineffective issue,” said senior adviser Steve Schmidt, noting that it had little impact in the primary. “He’s got a lot of energy, he’s in great shape, has kids in early 20s, and is very much attuned to popular culture.”

Asked about Obama’s tomorrow-versus-yesterday language, Schmidt said: “We have no intention of ceding who’s the best candidate for the future to Obama. It’s about the right kind change versus the wrong kind of change.”

Should Obama get the nomination, though, it’s almost certain to come up. And it likely won’t matter if he raises it or not.

The 25-year difference between the two major candidates would be the most pronounced in the country’s history and would be unavoidable should they be paired together on the debate stage this fall.

“Your either going to see a guy who looks old and tired versus a guy who looks young and fresh,” Beckel said. “Or it will be [John] Edwards versus [Dick] Cheney where Edwards looked like a kid.”

David Paul Kuhn and Avi Zenilman contributed to this story.

[libh8er]

Ubama''s age is an issue, so why not. McCain is up there...no doubt about it. That''s why his VP pic better be a good one.

If anything should happen, we don''t need another Lyndon Johnson or Gerald Ford.

[janiet3]

What? I don''t think the headline question should read "Will McCain''s age be an issue," but rather should be, "McCain''s age is a BIG BIG issue!"

Grandpa McCoy, so senile it hurts to watch him, while a good soldier, hero if you will, is without any doubt too old to cut the mustard any more. He doesn''t have a ghost of a chance, period. But then I suspect the GOP knew that before he was handed the nom. Technically, not yet, the nom - but in the bag.

[jack3213]

TO ANSWER THE QUESTION: WILL AGE BE A FACTOR FOR MCCAIN? ONE MUST THINK SIMPLY: WILL THE BEST CHOSEN CANDIDATE BE A FACTOR FOR ELECTING THE NEXT PRESIDENT? IF YES COMES TO MIND FOR ''THE INTELLIGENT CHOICE'', THAN AGE IS IRRELEVANT. IF RACE OR GENDER IS YOUR ONLY CRITIERIA, THAN THAT IS NOT A SMART CHOICE. IF NOT CARING THAT YOU PAY MORE IN TAXES AND FEEL THE NEED TO BELIEVE EVERY PIPE DREAM DOWN THE PIKE FROM THE DEMOCRATS THAN YOUR CHOICE REMAINS NOT SO SMART.

[janiet3]

Jack, why do you always feel the need to yell?

[jack3213]

IM SORRY- IM NOT YELLING- I PROMISE- I WORK WITH CAPS ALL DAY- AND FORGET TO CHANGE IT OVER- FORGIVE ME.

[janiet3]

Explanation accepted, at least by me.

[actornaught]

It''s not McCain''s age, it''s all his "senior moments".

Just like we had President Nancy Reagan, should we let a Beer Queen run the country?

[jack3213]

I was watching Mrs McCain on Leno and I was very impressed with her. She wouldn''t run the country, certainly, but she would make a very respectable first lady. Senior moments are far better than persistant liars, don''t you think?

[actornaught]

Senior moments are far better than persistant liars, don''t you think?
Posted by Jack3213 at 12:39 PM : May 05, 2008

No, if there are warmongers in the shadows, they have equally evil possibilities.

[realpatriot1]

McCain''s age won''t be an impediment, so long as Lieberman stays by his side to tell him what to say.

Meet Joe Liberman folks, the new *** Cheney!

[denisr3]

I am old. McCain is too old. He is a nice guy but, he does not connect to the word, ''FUTURE''.

[dinkydog1]

I was watching Mrs McCain on Leno and I was very impressed with her. She wouldn''''t run the country, certainly, but she would make a very respectable first lady. Senior moments are far better than persistant liars, don''''t you think?


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Posted by Jack3213 at 12:39 PM : May 05, 2008

..................

Are you talking about McCains first wife who after sticking by him through years of imprisonment got dumped after the younger newer model came along? And yes McCain would be better than Bush the persistant liar we have for president now, good point!

I don''t get it....supposedly the 40s are the new 30s and the 50s are the new 40s....so how come the 70s aren''t the new 60s? Some of the bigoted posters here wish they had as much intelligence as McCain....alas they never did and never will.

[actornaught]

Posted by andersonk49 at 01:08 PM : May 05, 2008
Posted by mocaIeo at 01:02 PM : May 05, 2008

LMAO ! Both of these lunkheads are scrounging around the bottom of the ''con yakking points barrel to rationalize dementia into the White House...

[spotchester]

Of course McCain''s advanced age is an issue. I prefer the leader of the free world know how to use the internet.

[x32792]

I think his association with John Hagee will be a greater issue than his age.

[marcopolo51]

John McCain looks old, sounds old and acts old. That''s because he is old, too ancient to believe that he has the energy needed to move this country in a new positive direction. If elected what we''ll get is a crotchety, angry Great-grandpappy McCain doing more harm than good for the United States.

[sgtrds]

It''s not his age, it''s his senility.

[junkmail508]

Oh my CBS....

*gets a little red faced*

ahemmm...

but ... your bias is showing.

Classic liberal sidewinding press technique! Getting a little frustrated that a republican might get elected? Can''t come out directly calling him him names? What is a poor liberal news agency to do?

Why, just put your criticism in the form of a question, and all the american sheep will chew it up like you had nothing to do with it.

PATHETIC.

Not to mention disturbing that so many people rely on your organization for "news".

[aldon61]

Should McSames age be an issue? No, but it does need to be taken into consideration when casting our votes. Issues are: the economy, war in Iraq, what to do with Iran, Poverty, infrastructure repair, medical insurance, medical costs, cost of gas, cost of utilities in general........get the idea? I will also remember his age, but it won''t count nearly as much as his positions on these real issues. Unless McSame does a 180 degree shift on most of the real issues, the american people will not elect him, nor should they.

[ouronlyhope]

His age is no concern...as long as he is in good health. Of much graver concern is his stance on issues of policy.

MCCAIN 4 years ago:

Bush''s tax cuts-said they are irresponsible & he can''t in good conscience vote for them because they help the richest 10% more than the middle-class

Military & veterans-strong support in all areas

Influence of the Affluent & Big business (lobbyists) in Washington politics-worked to decrease it

MCCAIN Now:

Bush''s tax cuts-make them permanent

Military-rather than focus on Al-Qaeda in Afganistan, he wants to keep us in the Iraq War (recent Pentagon reports:we are doing more harm than good) Our troops are exhausted & overstretched with record suicide rates and decreased enrollment. Only a DRAFT would enable him to keep (or increase, as he proposes) our troop levels. PLUS, he has repeatedly stated that we need to start a conflict with Iran!?! We can''t sustain the two conflicts we are already in! MORE is not an option right now.

Veterans - he won''t support the new GI Bill because it would make ''getting out'' of the military ''too appealing''!?!

Influence in Politics-he is under investigation by the FEC for illegal campaign contributions and SCARIER, he has received the largest percentage of campaign funds from LOBBYISTS & BIG BUSINESSES of all the candidates.

Sigh, I liked the old McCain better, but 4 years ago I wasn''t concerned about the economy. And that is the ONE area he has consistently said he knows nothing about.

[javalation]

McCain has been known as the most bellicose, combative senator in Washington. As such, I would expect his volatile temperament to fail him being compared to the calm, reasoned countenance of Obama. Of course it won''t be an issue if the Clinton''s steal the nomination, since Hillary''s super ego is so well known. She''s been known to get mad at people who suggest any slight modification to her plans. Look at the way she''s responded over the silly gas tax holiday idea. All of the economists laugh at the notion and she calls them elitist.

[gslinger3]

Pardon me if I am wrong,I rarely am, but, isnt it the Democrats you like to be called the party of the people. Isnt discrimination one of their rallying points? Is it not age discrimination to question John McCains ability to lead because he is 70?

WHAT FREAKING HIPOCRITES!!!

NOBAMA 08!!!!

WWJWD "What would Jeremiah Wright do?"

NOBILARY 08!!!!

[aldon61]

mccannerdeth and javalation: Why don''t the two of you go play on another blog? Your need for repetitious spouting off is both boring and inconsiderate for the rest of us.

[bunkyb33]

If age is an issue, then we should get rid of 3/4 of the people that represent us now in the senate and house.

[dave_1958]

You tell me please how massive memory loss and Alzheimer''s make McSame qualified to be anything but a puppet in a chair?

"Lift your right arm sir and wave it... No sir your other right arm...Um no sir put the hand gun down first .. thats it... good boy... Oh where''d everybody go?"

LMAO ! Both of these lunkheads are scrounging around the bottom of the ''''con yakking points barrel to rationalize dementia into the White House...

Posted by actornaught at 01:12 PM : May 05, 2008

Just asking....are you on drugs?

It''''s not his age, it''''s his senility.

Posted by SgtRDS at 01:34 PM : May 05, 2008

Oh by the way....what''s your excuse for your rambling, boring, repetitive, senseless posts...if not senility...then what?

[rushlimpdrug]

"Will McCain''s Age Be An Issue?"


Of course not.

My baby brother was in pampers like McSame
and it seems that the whole house ran on his
orders.

Same thing can happen with McSame.

[rushlimpdrug]

Bomb, Bomb, Bomb --- Bomb, Bomb Iran.
Posted by makeitso928 at 02:50 PM


Ok, stop it!
You''ve got me singing it now.
Where can I get the CD?

[pamnoga]

Well, of course, age is going to be an issue. And it isn''t discrimination. No one is saying that he''s too old to run and be considered for the office, but his age, like his life''s experiences, are part of who he is. I''m sorry, but I''ve listened to the man and he is OUT OF TOUCH with Americans and wheir everyday lives. He is a great American who served his country with honor, but that shouldn''t give him a free-pass to the Presidency. He shouldn''t be given the office as his reward. Thanks, John, for all you''ve given to your country, but you''ll end up destroying the country you so love and cherish if you try to take the lead. You''re too tied up with big business and the old way of doing things. You''re just not up to the chanllenge.

[gslinger3]

Looks like he has most of his teeth, if not all of them! I say put him in there!!!

NOBAMA 08 WWJWD

NOBILARY 08

[lvdragonlady-2009]

Yes, age for both Mac and clinton are big issues for me, for different reason. Mac is just too old for the rigorous schedule that is required when one is president. I do not give a *** if he chops wood or whatever that is not the same as the day to day running of our government. Plus he appears a bit absent minded at times.
Now, for clinton. I am well over 50 so I feel I can make these comments from experience.
From what I have seen and I do try to avoid watching debates and speeches because they are not believable to me. I believe that alot of ms clinton''s outrageous comments & forgetful moments are dues to (1)age and (2)hormones. The menopause thing is not something that can be controlled all the time. The mood swings are off the hook which could explain her ''crying'' moment in NH. Lord knows I have done enough of it and it could explain her ''obliterate'' comment.
Sorry but these factors really need to be questioned. Having been there and still have an occasional flash, it can push one past ''reasonable'' real easy.

Do you somehow imagine yourself to be an artist...if so, don''t quit your day job. Ha, that was funny...bet you don''t even have a job...and if you do your probably stealing your employers time by posting your childish little limericks. By the way do you understand the word "cadence"?

[jsilver2th]

Don''t forget Ronnie had Nancy and her astrologers to protect him from reality in the last term when in retrospect it''s easy to see how he was drifting in and out- and Cindy is no Nancy- even now she says she does all the driving-

[actornaught]

Just asking....are you on drugs?
Posted by andersonk49 at 02:43 PM : May 05, 2008

You address the issue of "senior moments" vs simple age discrimination, then maybe i''ll take questions...

[quetzalcrist]

The only way Makain will win, is if the Neanderthals come back to life and vote their colleague in.

andersonk49 - You''''re back. I thought you and your Brown Shirt buddies had crawled under a rock to get out of the bright glare of reality.

Posted by makeitso928 at 03:46 PM : May 05, 2008

Gee...now I understand...your reality seems to be whatever you want to make it (hence the name I guess). I laughed when I saw your post. Me and my "brown shirt buddies" are a group of over 50 women...wow I guess you better call Homeland Security. See...I told you that you were childish...throwing your little Nazi terms around.

andersonk49 - a sow is a sow is a sow
Posted by makeitso928 at 04:06 PM : May 05, 2008

and more childish remarks...

[zorar-2009]

Of course..does anyone want their 72 year old plus running the country...It''s time to take a nap McCain..! Let''s get real

[zorar-2009]

Of course..does anyone want their 72 year old plus grandfather running this country...It''''s time to take a nap McCain..! Let''''s get real

[sthinker]

Ultimately, his age will be less of an issue than a black man with Hussein in his name or a female with Clinton as a last name.

And, yes, I am black.

Voters will ultimately say they''d rather have McCain for one term than Clinton or Obama for two.

Democrats screwed up when they didn''t nominate Edwards in 2004 or 2008, because ALL OF THE EMPIRICAL EVIDENCE showed that he would have been their strongest "GENERAL ELECTION" "GENERAL ELECTION" "GENERAL ELECTION" "GENERAL ELECTION" "GENERAL ELECTION" "GENERAL ELECTION" "GENERAL ELECTION" candidate, both cycles.

There is a difference between the General Election and the primaries. Just ask Mike Dukakis, Walter Mondale, and George McGovern. Nixon wanted to run against McGovern instead of Muskie, because he knew that McGovern was weaker than Muskie.

Rove wanted Dean or Kerry at the top of the ticket in 2004, and Clinton or Obama at the top of the ticket in 2008, INSTEAD OF JOHN EDWARDS, because he knew that all four of them were much weaker "GENERAL ELECTION" candidates than Edwards.

They were stronger DEMOCRATIC PRIMARY candidates than Edwards, but the primaries are not the big prize, or else every candidate every nominated in both parties would have become President, and last time I checked they didn''t...

...just like Clinton and Obama won''t.

[almitaaa]

Yes it is an issue, but more worrysome is his health.
Melanoma stage II has 50% survival at 5 years, if it is stage III the prognosis is poor, He was diagnosed like in 2000, lesions in neck in face has more risk of metastasis to brain, the Stress of a Presidency could worsen the scenary, Sure the Vicepresident will be the lucky one. It is very unfortunate for Senator McCain

[idnnsg]

His age is not nearly as important as the fact that he has malignant melanoma. He will not survive 4 years in office.

However, if the US is stu.pid enough to vote for an imbecile who actually WANTS eternal warfare, then NONE of us will like survive the next four years!

After being tortured for years by the Viet Cong, McCain now SUPPORTS torture, which he said did NOT work on him, since he claims he didn''t give the enemy any secrets. He is either IN.SANE or else he is a LIAR and a TRAITOR! No other conclusion is possible.

[tomar0317]

McCain''s age and experience brings us nothing but same old stuff. A president as a figurehead with the big wigs in the party still running the show. McCain has put forth his loyalty but enough is enough, it''s time for the country to get bold like our forefathers and head in a new direction, one of government for the people!

[smirk5]

If the media was liberal, they''d ask McCain:

Why a few weeks ago he said in error 3 separate times that Iran was training Al-Qaeda to fight in Iraq if he indeed was an "expert" on Iraq.

They''d ask him just how many years he''s willing to let our soldiers die protecting the stalemate we''ve got going in Iraq.

They''d ask him why he''s afraid to let his wife''s tax information go public.

They''d ask him why he surrounds his campaign with lobbyists when he constantly runs down lobbyists in speeches.

They''d ask him why he supported withdraw from Somalia.

They''d ask him why he agreed that we wouldn''t have a long-term presence in Iraq several years ago but is willing to stay there for 100-10,000 years now.

They''d ask him why he never asked for the resignation of Rumsfeld.


The Kid Glove Candidate.
That''s John McCain .

[vincan-2009]

The more people see McCain and the more they hear McCain speak his age will be an issue. He has said and then reversed himself on so many subjects, and has said he didn''t say other things when it was recorded. More and more will realize that McCain is not very swift mentally or physically. The more people learn about him the more they will find that they don''t like. McCain''s total support for Bush''s policies puts him in a bad spot.

[frankbowers]

not if obama gets the nod. Frank

[liar-clinton]

Mc-WARMONGER seems to forget that Iran and Iraq are different places. How can he forget?

[abbe91]

"I think his association with John Hagee will be a greater issue than his age.
Posted by x32792 at 01:20 PM : May 05, 2008"

What about his ignorance of Middle-East Politics ?
Do you think that Liebermann can print enough clue cards for him to remember the difference between Chi''ites and Sunnis ? To tell apart gulf war I and the current one ? to Bomb, bomb, bomb the right country ?