Projo Politics Blog

By John E. Mulligan
Journal Washington Bureau

DENVER -- The presumptive Republican presidential nominee's 72nd birthday today will put a lot of attention on the question of whether he would be fit for the job. If he is elected, John McCain would be older than any previous president on Inauguration Day.

But birthdays make for tricky politics with America's aging population, and old people are conscientious voters.

Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama's senior (no pun) political adviser, David Axelrod, trod gingerly around the issue when it came up in a meeting with reporters yesterday.

"The problem isn't the number of years that Senator McCain has spent on this planet," Axlerod said. "It's the age of his ideas."

Axelrod said McCain has "a backward-looking philosophy."

Not all of the Democratic opposition is that subtle. There are some groups that are reportedly celebrating McCain's birthday with candle-decked cakes.

But some Democrats here in Denver this week think it's a bad idea for their side to diss the elderly. Read what some older Democrats said in a report this morning in The Journal's sister newspaper, The Dallas Morning News.

And on a related note, the GOP news of today is:

McCain has just announced his choice of a running mate, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin -- and she's 44 years old.

According to the Associated Press:

Palin is a generation younger than two of McCain's seven children. She also is considerably younger than Sen. Joseph Biden of Delaware, who is Barack Obama's running mate on the Democratic ticket.

She is three years Obama's junior, as well - and McCain has made much in recent weeks of Obama's relative lack of experience in foreign policy and defense matters.

-- With Associated Press reports

 Tags  age issue in presidential race Barack Obama John McCain's birthday

Comments

Mike said:

Not surprised McCain picked someone so much younger, he seems to like them young. After all this is the same man who started dating his current wife when she was only 24, while he was 43 and married. At least he's showing consistency in his thinking.

Link | August 29, 2008 4:06 PM
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Mike smith said:

Not surprised McCain picked someone so much younger, he seems to like them young. After all this is the same man who started dating his current wife when she was only 24, while he was 43 and married. At least he's showing consistency in his thinking.

Link | August 29, 2008 4:08 PM
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