John McCain's Age

Pragmatist published a post at Political Hotwire drawing attention to John McCain's age as a realistic issue in the 2008 election. Offering no thoughts of his own, he refers to a Daily Kos article instead.

NotMyRealName responded:

I'm not really going to judge McCain on these videos alone... but that's not to say this point doesn't have some teeth.

McCain is getting old, and you can tell he has some medical problems. I believe it will play a role in the campaign, rightly so.

And so it proves what I say... if Obama loses this election it really won't have anything to do with Republicans. It will be because Obama couldn't get the white democrat vote.

I think he makes a good point here. Frankly, I think McCain's age should be an issue and we should consider his physical and mental health. However, because Obama has made himself out to be such a fantastically polarizing figure in American politics, the election will come down to those who support him and those who do not. A vote for McCain will typically be a "not Obama" vote. This is why it will be so important for McCain to choose his running mate wisely. He may want to pick someone much younger than himself to say, "If something happens to me, this guy looks healthy!". Of course, this would further draw attention to McCain's age. So he may want to find a healthy 55 year old, who while being younger than McCain, is not so young that he makes McCain look old and decrepit himself.