Reply #17: McCain's age may work against him, but one has to be careful about raising it [View All]

[onenote]

We don't really have to talk that much about McCain's age for it to have an impact. If he's the nominee, the age difference between him and the Democratic candidate (whether its HRC or Obama) will be obvious enough. Focusing on his age after 8 years is particularly odd, since it assumes that voters are thinking eight years ahead, which they never are. And overtly raising the issue only allows rebuttal points to be made, such as the fact that Ted Kennedy is four years older than McCain, that Carl Levin and Barbara Mikulski are older than McCain, That McCain is only four years older than Boxer and five years older than Sanders.

The age and health factor will come into play. But pushing on it too hard, or in the wrong way, could lead to a backlash.