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« Bug Braaaaaaaaaains! | Main | What Right to Privacy? »

John McCain is 72 years old! [laughter, applause]

Happy birthday to Senator John McCain, who turned 72 this week. His age is playing a huge factor in the current presidential race, or so we are told and told and told and told and told again. His age is such an issue that Conan O’Brian begged John McCain to give us something else to pick on him about (see this vid, especially around 1:20 – 2:20).

It got me wondering about the Republican Party and their nominees over the years. Age has been a recurring theme for the GOP. Not counting George W. Bush, the Republicans haven’t nominated a man younger than 60 years of age since Nixon. In the entire post-WWII era, the Republican candidate has been older 12 out of 16 races, and by an average age of 12.9 years. The last time the Democrats ran a candidate who was more than three years older than his opponent was Truman’s upset over Dewey in 1948. This just isn’t new territory for the Republicans, so I’m not surprised that they don’t seem very bothered by it – even with McCain being ten years older than the post-WWII Republican average.

Interesting, no?

Of course none of this addresses whether or not McCain’s age is a legitimate concern. I think in general we would be fools not show some concern about the health of any candidate, and more concern is warranted for older candidates. But John McCain appears to be vigorous, healthy, and in control of his faculties. It wouldn’t surprise me if he outlived John Kerry, Al Gore, and Bill Clinton. No, my concerns about John McCain will remain substantive and issue-based. Until I see evidence to the contrary, the issue of his age appears to be mostly of concern to late-night comedians.