Is John McCain Ronald Reagan or Bob Dole?

Or, more to the point, will McCain be perceived as the vigorous, wood-chopping proclaimer of ??Morning in America? or as a cranky senior senator prone to gaffes and the occasional stage tumble?

The sensitive question of age - one of the trickiest and most unpredictable in the political playbook - has been touched upon only glancingly since McCain became the de facto GOP nominee. But it is certain to hover over a candidate who will be 72 by Election Day.

For all the ink spilled on whether the country is ready for a woman or African-American, polls indicate that more Americans worry about having a president over 70.

And McCain??s public image is unmistakably tied to his age. Pew surveys taken in February and again last month showed that when voters are asked what word they would identify with McCain, ??old? was far and away the choice.

Recent presidential history shows being a septuagenarian is not a disqualifier. Reagan was 73 in his 1984 reelection campaign and won a 49-state landslide.

Dole, however, was the same age when he ran for president in 1996 against Bill Clinton and was never really in contention.

Veterans of both campaigns agree that with McCain as the GOP nominee, age will again be an issue - and say the Reagan and Dole experiences offer the McCain team some best-case and worst-case scenarios on how to deal with it.
Will McCain's Age Be An Issue?, Politico: Sensitive Question Could Hover Over A Candidate Who Will Be 72 By Election Day - CBS News

Age should be an issue as much as sex or race....NO place for it. I personally think that attacking his age would be a major mistake.

With Bob Dole...hell, he always talked in third person tense. Age didn't even have to be brought up.

Have a good one!:s4:
Psycho4Bud Reviewed by Psycho4Bud on . Will McCain's Age Be An Issue? Is John McCain Ronald Reagan or Bob Dole? Or, more to the point, will McCain be perceived as the vigorous, wood-chopping proclaimer of ??Morning in America? or as a cranky senior senator prone to gaffes and the occasional stage tumble? The sensitive question of age - one of the trickiest and most unpredictable in the political playbook - has been touched upon only glancingly since McCain became the de facto GOP nominee. But it is certain to hover over a candidate who will be 72 by Rating: 5