They finally are discussing it - McCain's Age - Update

Is John McCain too old to be president?

My conservative Republican step mother will not vote for McCain. She says he is too old. She doesn’t like Obama but given the choices…. She is a bit older than McCain.

It is conservative journalists Mike Allen and Jim VandeHei at Politco who have started the buzz and incipient GOP hissy fit. They have an article pointing out all the gaffes and mistakes McCain has made recently. They ask the obvious question - is it his age and what will this mean for the election?

I agree with Steve Benin that the problem isn't really the verbal slips. "The important point is that McCain, a little too often, seems hopelessly clueless. That’s far more significant than the occasional “gaffe.”"

I also almost agree with former Republican John Cole that Democrats probably don't need to make this a big issue. Voters will contrast the candidates themselves and decide that one is not fit. My doubts are caused by voters reelecting Reagan when my mother and I believed he was already showing signs of senility. Many of the GOP presidents and candidates have been figureheads with sharp staff members and associates to prop them up. Reagan and our current commander-in-chief are prime examples.

With Obama on the right side on the Iraq occupation, end it as soon as possible, and the economy in the toilet, and the GOP candidate showing signs he is a doddering old man, the GOP leaders must either be in deep despair or deep panic about now. Even the normally idiotic Jonah Goldberg seems to see the handwriting on the wall.

ADDED - Another senior moment or is he just an old coot who shouldn't be president? Joe Klein at Time Magazine Swampline blog - McCain's Meltdown. Still another - McCain has no idea what he is talking about on Iraq and goes on broadcast TV to look like a fool. He credits the Anbar Awakening to the surge when it took place a year earlier. BTW, Katie Couric and CBS covered-up the McCain major gaffe. What is that about liberal media again? The AP actually covers the gaffe in a small story. McCain campaign getting desperate as world embraces Barack, both McCain and his staff are now launching many over the top attacks on Obama. "I counted five attacks this morning alone, ridiculing Obama for opposing the "surge" in Iraq and supporting a timetable to withdraw combat troops."

Here is a video of CBS edits to the interview to make McCain look better.

That seems related to this - Politico: "GOP senators scramble for lifeboats." Looking bad all over for Karl Rove's dream of a hundred years of Republican rule.

Tags: McCain, age, election, 2008