McCAIN’S BIG QUESTION: WILL NATION ELECT A PRESIDENT IN HIS 70s?
Posted by Terry Hull under 2008 Presidential Candidates at 8:12 am.If John McCain is elected president in 2008, he will become the oldest person to ever enter the office, at 72 years old. The distinction currently belongs to Ronald Reagan, who was 69 when he began his first term in 1981. Bill Clinton became our first baby boomer president and was followed by fellow boomer George W. Bush. In the 21st century, are voters willing to elect a man born 10 years before the Baby Boom even began?
Of course, if 60 is the new 40, then 70 is the new 50. To prove it, in August, McCain backpacked through the Grand Canyon — and his publicists have been mentioning it every chance they get since. Expect to see plenty more feats of strength and daring by McCain during the next two years.
Comparisons to Ronald Reagan are inevitable. McCain may benefit by the comparison. In a poll this year, citizens named Reagan the best president in the last 60 years (George W. Bush was named the worst). However, there is a big problem for McCain with the Reagan comparison: thinking of Reagan brings to mind the late president’s Alzheimer’s disease during his final years. That’s not what McCain wants voters thinking about.
If McCain gets the nomination, his choice of running mate becomes crucial. Will he pick someone in their 40s or 50s to balance the ticket, or will he worry that a significantly younger running mate will only underscore his age?
My opinion: McCain’s age is not an issue. Nine of our 43 presidents — that’s 21%, a significant percentage — failed to complete their terms. Four were assassinated, four more died in office, and one resigned. Two of them were in their 40s and five were in their 50s; in other words, youth is no guarantee of a full term. The only thing certain about the future is that it is full of surprises.
[A longer version of this post is posted at Terra Extraneus]
November 18th, 2006 at 3:00 pm
McCain is the only candidate that can save us from Hillary.
November 18th, 2006 at 9:13 pm
I agree that McCain’s age is not an issue. As life expectancies continue to climb, we’re entering a period when our presidents are likely to routinely be persons in their 70s.
Delores: I still think that Hillary Clinton will decide not to run for the presidency in 2008, but that if she does, she’ll be unable to secure the Democratic nomination.
Mark
November 19th, 2006 at 1:13 pm
Today on ABC’s Sunday morning political talk program hosted by George Stephanopoulos, McCain said that he favors overturning Roe v. Wade.
How will Republicans reconcile this statement with a McCain presidential candidacy in 2008?
Here is an excerpt of the transcript from today:
STEPHANOPOULOS: Let me ask one question about abortion. Then I want to turn to Iraq. You’re for a constitutional amendment banning abortion, with some exceptions for life and rape and incest.
MCCAIN: Rape, incest and the life of the mother. Yes.
STEPHANOPOULOS: So is President Bush, yet that hasn’t advanced in the six years he’s been in office. What are you going to do to advance a constitutional amendment that President Bush hasn’t done?
MCCAIN: I don’t think a constitutional amendment is probably going to take place, but I do believe that it’s very likely or possible that the Supreme Court should — could overturn Roe v. Wade, which would then return these decisions to the states, which I support.
STEPHANOPOULOS: And you’d be for that?
MCCAIN: Yes, because I’m a federalist. Just as I believe that the issue of gay marriage should be decided by the states, so do I believe that we would be better off by having Roe v. Wade return to the states. And I don’t believe the Supreme Court should be legislating in the way that they did on Roe v. Wade.
November 20th, 2006 at 5:49 am
Thanks for the info. I would welcome a reversal of Roe v Wade, and this info is very interesting. Deborah, I don’t understand your question. Do you see this as somehow diminishing McCain’s chances for the Republican nomination? I can’t imagine how.
November 20th, 2006 at 8:31 am
Terry, I’m unsure how Republicans will react to McCain’ statement that he favors letting states rule on abortion, rather than the Supreme Court.
I completely agree with him. And that’s reality anyway on abortion as well as gay marriage. Regardless of any federal judicial ruling, states can set their own regulations.
I suspect that McCain’s remarks would not be well received by the religious right, but I could be mistaken.
November 20th, 2006 at 12:06 pm
I suspect that McCain’s remarks would not be well received by the religious right, but I could be mistaken.
It’s clear that you think this way, Deborah, but you haven’t clarified it by giving any reasons.
November 20th, 2006 at 12:33 pm
It’s a question, Rusty: Can the Republican party find its way to support a 2008 presidential candidate who advocates overturning Roe v. Wade?
Is that a litmus test for the religious right? I don’t know the answer.