THE AGE ISSUE

||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||

DAVID HARSANYI, DENVER POST - Political observers have questioned
whether Americans are "ready" to elect a woman or an African-American to
the presidency. A more pertinent question, actually, is whether
Americans are ready to elect a grouchy old white guy. According to a
Gallup poll, only 5 percent of Americans would never vote for an
African-American, while 11 percent claim they would never vote for a
woman. . . Republican candidate John McCain is hamstrung by a more
worrisome factor. He will be 72 by the time the November election rolls
around. In the same Gallup poll, 42 percent claim they would not vote
for a 72-year-old. Another survey found that 56 percent of Americans
believe the nation would not accept an "elderly" president. The only
groups consistently polling beneath old folks are gay Americans and
atheists. . .

Fact is, far from being reluctant to elect seniors, voters reliably
choose them. Washington, a veritable Gerontocracy, can often resemble a
Boca Raton condo association meeting. Presently there are 26 senators
over the age of 70 (23 of them older than McCain). There are six
senators in their 80s and 36 in their 60s. Robert Byrd is 90. The late
Strom Thurmond - who, I believe, opposed women's suffrage his first term
- left office in 2003 at the age of 100.

So voters are far from ageists. For the presidency, however, they have
more hesitation. The oldest president ever elected was Ronald Reagan -
more than a year younger than McCain is now. When confronted about his
advanced age during the 1984 presidential campaign, Reagan famously
defused the issue by saying, "I refuse to make my opponent's youth and
inexperience an issue in this campaign." We now know that Reagan
struggled with his health during his second term.

At 68, William Henry Harrison was the country's second-oldest president.
A war hero, "Granny Harrison," as his opponents called him, was a tough
cat. After winning the presidency, he stood outside on a miserably
frigid and damp Washington day to deliver the longest inaugural address
- more than 8,400 words - in American history. He then joined the
inaugural parade. Harrison, naturally, caught a cold, which led to
pneumonia. He never recovered and died 31 days into his term.. . .

No one is suggesting McCain is on the verge of keeling over. But at 71,
a man has to start pondering limitations. Politically, it means that
McCain's vice presidential pick holds more significance than any
candidate since Reagan. It means McCain will have a hard time
rhetorically out-"changing" a young whipper-snapper named Barack Obama -
who at 46 is the third-youngest senator in the nation.

And as surely as Obama will gratuitously cite "change" a dozen times
today on the stump, an irascible elderly gentleman will call me to
explain that, if the mood struck, he could lay a beating on me that
would not soon be forgotten. He can do 20 one-armed pushups. Can I?

No. But the president's job, unlike mine, matters to everyone. Age,
then, is, at the very least, worthy of discussion.

http://www.denverpost.com/harsanyi/ci_8361312

||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||