Even though I'm not a fan of McCain and jokingly call him "grandpa", I believe this reeks of ageism. There are a lot of problems with a McCain presidency, but he seems vigorous enough for the job. His mom is around 95 and still going strong.
Rep. John Murtha (D-PA) recently said Sen. John McCain may be too old to be President. “It’s no old man’s job,” Murtha said of the presidency. McCain’s campaign responded that such comments were “nonsense attacks.”
In an interview with ThinkProgress today, Murtha explained that his concern over McCain’s age has to do specifically with leading the nation in a time of war. “With the rigors of today — with the news media the way it is — one slip of the tongue, one mistake can cause a worldwide impact,” Murtha said. (Indeed, McCain has had many recent “slips” of the tongue.) Murtha continued:
I know myself. I have to pace myself. I’m the same age he is. He said I was senile a couple of years ago. Well, that’s beside the point — whether I’m senile. But I just believe that his age is going to be very difficult for him to become a good Commander-in-Chief because the decisions are so difficult.
“Some of the things he’s been saying worry me because he’s going to carry on the Bush tradition,” Murtha said, arguing that McCain doesn’t seem to understand that the American people are “rejecting his policies.”
Transcript:
Let me tell you, I’ve seen seven presidents. I’ve seen the wear and tear on a president. I’ve seen the difficulties — there’s never a day that goes by that you don’t have a problem. The problem that comes to the president can’t be solved by anybody else.
So, the older you get, the more difficult it is to have the energy to confront these things. Reagan had a good staff. He was able to get by. But with the rigors of today — with the news media the way it is — one slip of the tongue, one mistake can cause a worldwide impact.
I know myself. I have to pace myself. I’m the same age he is. He said I was senile a couple of years ago. Well, that’s beside the point — whether I’m senile. But I just believe that his age is going to be very difficult for him to become a good Commander-in-Chief because the decisions are so difficult.
And some of the things he’s been saying worry me because he’s going to carry on the Bush tradition. I mean, if he doesn’t understand that the country — the people — are rejecting his policies, then he’s making a real mistake. The public itself has rejected it.
And there’s going to be a Democratic President because this candidate is endorsing his policies of continuing the tax cuts, people are hurting at home, and yet the war is going to continue also. We can’t afford to have him as president.
All of us realize and appreciate his heroic duties as an officer in the Navy.
