Keller @ Large: How important are Biden's and Trump's ages in the race for president?
BOSTON - "They're the oldest people to run for president, breaking by four years the record that they set," shouted an incredulous Jon Stewart on his return to The Daily Show the other night. And while he name-checked Donald Trump during a lengthy rant about the ages of the two presumptive major-party presidential nominees, Stewart reserved special ridicule for Joe Biden, showing a clip from a Biden campaign video and asking: "How do you go on TikTok and end up looking older?"
A new poll shows Stewart has company, a majority saying both men are too old with Biden getting the brunt of the doubt. It's a message being hammered home by Republican challenger Nikki Haley, who said on "Face the Nation" that "we have to face the reality of the fact that when you get to those ages [Trump is 77, Biden is 81], you get diminished."
To Washington Monthly politics editor Bill Scher of Northampton, Stewart and Haley are way off base. "Age is not enough to say someone can or can't do a job," he said. "Age in and of itself, even if it means you walk a little stiffer or your voice is a little raspier, that doesn't mean you can't do the job, and I know plenty of people in Washington right now a whole lot younger than Joe Biden who I would not hand the keys to."
But Jennifer Nassour, chair of Haley's campaign in Massachusetts, disagrees. "In Massachusetts we ask for our justices on the SJC to retire at the age of 70," she said. "When you have these two guys that are just looking in the rearview mirror...both of them, chaos and drama follow them wherever they go because all they're doing is rehashing old disputes and arguments instead of looking forward."
So how big a deal will the age issue be come November?
A meltdown by either candidate could be a major factor in a close race, no question. But look for the limitations of Biden and Trump to be baked into the cake by then, with swing voters making their choice based on the stark differences between the two in temperament, policy, and vision of the future.
