As regular readers know, I’ve been fascinated with the implications of John McCain’s age on the presidential campaign. For all the talk about Americans’ comfort levels when it comes to an African-American president or woman president, there’s ample evidence that voters are even more concerned with a septuagenarian president.
Howard Dean recently noted that the DNC doesn’t plan to touch this during the general election, saying, “There is somewhat of a higher ethical bar on what we do. We don’t have any Lee Atwaters or Karl Roves on our side.” Dean noted, however, that in recent focus groups, voters kept bringing up the issue, unprompted.
Publius noted the other day that Dems can focus on the issue, but in a subtle way. For example, Barack Obama recently said, “John McCain is an American hero. We honor his service to our nation. But his priorities don’t address the real problems of the American people, because they are bound to the failed policies of the past.” Obama didn’t come right out and say, “He’s really old,” but by connecting McCain and the “the past,” he’s sending a signal.
Today, John Murtha tried a less subtle approach.
Rep. Jack Murtha, who has endorsed Hillary Clinton’s presidential bid, introduced the New York senator at a Washington appearance Wednesday with the observation that Sen. John McCain is too old to be president. “It’s no old man’s job,” said Murtha.
McCain is 72, three years younger than Murtha, a powerful Democratic congressman from Pennsylvania. Murtha said the demands of the office were too much for men of their age.
If he were elected, McCain would be the oldest first-term U.S. president in history.
“…[T]his one guy running is about as old as me,” said Murtha. “And let me tell you something, it’s not [an] old man’s job. I mean the campaign, the stress, so forth.”
Well, that’s certainly one way to give the issue some traction.
The McCain campaign wasn’t happy with Murtha.
McCain’s campaign immediately condemned Murtha’s remarks, saying trail activities like his late-night talk show appearances should eliminate any voter doubt about the Arizona senator’s stamina for the office, in a statement that did not mention Clinton, taking aim instead at Barack Obama.
“I think people will evaluate John McCain through the type of campaign he is running, whether it is through appearances on shows like Letterman and Leno, whether its through the fifteen hour days on the campaign trail,” McCain’s senior advisor Steve Schmidt. “He’s a person who’s in great physical shape, who has outworked every other campaign on the Republican side, and you know, has a much tougher and demanding schedule than Senator Obama.”
Maybe it’s just me, but I found this response a little odd. Is Obama keeping a light and relaxing schedule? It doesn’t seem like it, so I’m not sure what that’s about.
More importantly, McCain’s age isn’t cause for concern because he can appear on Letterman? That’s the response? McCain must be in good shape for a 71-year-old man because he can stay up until 11:30?
As for Murtha, it’s smart for him to make the charge that McCain’s too old to be president because he’s older than McCain. If Obama or Clinton made his remarks, it’d come across as offensive and insulting. But if a fellow septuagenarian says this, it’s harder to accuse him of ageism. Murtha is effectively saying, “I’m too old to be president, and so is he.”