I’m So Old, (Insert Punch Line)

By CHARLES M. BLOW
NYT

John McCain, when I was born, you were nearly six years older than my mother. Now, seven years into her retirement, you want a new job: the hardest job in the world. Wow!

Obviously, my mother isn’t running for president, but her age gives me a context for considering yours. And within that context, your age gives me pause.

Apparently, I’m not alone. In a Quinnipiac University poll of swing states (Florida, Ohio and Pennsylvania) published last week, nearly a quarter of respondents said that your age made it less likely that they would vote for you. It wasn’t just the young who had an issue with it either. More than 20 percent of those 55 and older agreed. And, while one would expect a partisan divide, independents leaned more toward the Democratic point of view. That should give you pause.

Fair or not, this is a serious hurdle for you. So, why is it that you can’t seem to stop making light of it? That is a bad idea. (Imagine Barack Obama making a string of self-depreciating black jokes. See, bad idea.) Let’s review.

It was disconcerting when you joked on “Saturday Night Live” that we should be looking for someone “very, very, very, old” to be the next president.

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