Obama Takes Cues From Bill Clinton In Handling McCain's Age

Sam Stein
The Huffington Post

They have been the preferred adjectives for the Obama campaign when going after its opponent. Following a John McCain misstatement, policy shift, or harsh attack, the Senator is usually labeled "confused," "angry," or a hybrid of the two. Aides to the Illinois Democrat insist there is no deeper meaning to their word choices. But it is hard not to notice the underlying suggestion of such remarks: John McCain is old.

It is a standard fare in politics to raise hay over the competency or experience of an opponent. But the methods by which the Obama folks have raised the age issue -- whether deliberately or not -- have reminded many political veterans of the playbook used by Bill Clinton in his 1996 reelection campaign. Like McCain, Bob Dole was a war veteran in his early 70s whose medical ailments caused real-time health concerns. And like Obama, the Clinton camp, according to those who were there, subtly turned age concerns into, at the very least, a political nuisance that impacted the campaign.

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