Is John McCain too old to be President?

[kentuck]

Or is it his ideas that are too old? He wants to make the Bush taxcuts permanent. He wants the war in Iraq to go on forever if necessary, at least until we get a victory. But he cannot say what a "victory" would be? He wants to privatize Social Security. He would bomb Iran if given the chance. He would put us deeper into debt and into a deeper war. He wants to drill off the coast of California and Florida but he thinks the state legislatures should decide. But he would approve of it.

Not only that, he has flip-flopped more than any other politician in America. He is also joined at the hip to the largest lobbyists in Washington. He is not a "straight shooter". That is only a myth promoted by the corporate media. He has changed his mind on almost everything since he became the Republican nominee. He is not a "maverick". He is the consummate Washington insider. Also, did I say, he is too old?

[izquierdista]

1. He's older than George Carlin

Not that it means anything. :shrug:

[no_hypocrisy]

2. Don't want to go there.

Our senator, Frank Lautenberg, is up for re-election. He is older than McCain. The same argument could be extended to his status.

[kentuck]

3. All you saw was the word "old"?

Right?

[no_hypocrisy]

15. "too old"

and that's a subjective standard.

[polichick]

4. His ideas reflect his age in that they are throwbacks...

To an outdated and dangerous mindset.

[MyNameGoesHere]

5. Hmm let me see...

Age and Citizenship requirements - US Constitution, Article II, Section 1

No person except a natural born citizen, or a citizen of the United States, at the time of the adoption of this Constitution, shall be eligible to the office of President; neither shall any person be eligible to that office who shall not have attained to the age of thirty-five years, and been fourteen years a resident within the United States.

Term limit amendment - US Constitution, Amendment XXII, Section 1 – ratified February 27, 1951

No person shall be elected to the office of the President more than twice, and no person who has held the office of President, or acted as President, for more than two years of a term to which some other person was elected President shall be elected to the office of the President more than once.



No sorry he isn't too old. And discrimination is discrimination regardless if it is against a race, gender or age group.

Now if you asked if he is a neocon, facist dictator well. yes but still eligible to run. I love democracy!

[kentuck]

9. But, have you heard, 3 out of 10 Americans are prejudiced

or racially biased. I guess that makes it OK to be a racist since there are so many out there, right? That is what they are basically saying. You are not alone. There are a lot of people just like you that think along racial lines... But we don't want to talk about age? Bring a knife to a gunfight.

[MyNameGoesHere]

25. Discrimination is wrong on all levels. Try to not put false words in

my post please3. :)

[droidamus2]

23. Not the question

The question was not is he too old from a constitutional prospective of course he is not. The question is will his age and his holding on to old and possibly outdated views of the world preclude him from being a good and effective leader. I think they can and do. To me 'prejudice' is holding something against a race, sexual orientation and yes age that has no basis in any facts. The discussion here is that old politicians not be the best arbiters of what is best to move this country forward and they should maybe take the position of elder statesmen rather than seeking to hold onto power beyond their generations rightful period of control. If that makes me an ageist so be it but I think these are valid questions and should not be pushed aside by making those that hold them fear being called prejudiced and bigoted. We have enough fear in this country being spewed by the right we can't avoid the big questions by using the same methods.

[MyNameGoesHere]

24. Questioning someones ability based on age,race or gender

is discrimination no if and or buts. Now if you say he isn't qualified because he is a war mongering fascist then we have something tangible to work with. Discrimination is ugly no matter who the target.

[droidamus2]

26. Oh well!!

I guess my problem is I am tired of other people defining how I should think by using words like discrimination, bias, unamerican or politically incorrect. I see no problem in discussing that in general people after a certain age are less acceptable to me as leaders. Am I saying that every person of that age could not be a great leader. No but I think many older americans are behind the times and still fighting the old wars. I do believe we need to move ahead not look behind. Maybe I just like the idea of the older generation taking the position of the elder statesperson and wise advisor and letting the next generation take the reigns of power. Another problem in this country is we can't try to discuss race without somebody calling us racist, discuss age and not have somebody call us an ageist, women oh you are woman hater or sexual orientation because they call you a homophobe. I am not saying that some peoples beliefs don't match these labels but many times when you throw these labels at somebody the exchange of ideas stops right there. How do we get past the bias and prejudice if we can't even begin to discuss the truths and fallacies of peoples beliefs. If you don't like my ideas on age and power in American don't throw labels tell me why you think that age should not be a consideration that's the kind of discussion we need. If the founding fathers felt that you could be too young to be president (they put it in the constitution) why can't somebody be too old?

[corkhead]

6. I don't beleve 71 is too old to be President, but I do believe that HE is.

This will become even more evident if and when we see some debates.

[ecstatic]

7. Congresssman Murtha (same age) thinks so

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/04/16/murtha-says-mccain-too-ol_n_96978.html

[Mz Pip]

8. Yes.

I suppose there are 72 year olds who are quick enough and smart enough to meet the intellectual and physical demands of the presidency. McCain isn't one of them.

He looks tired and drained and unsure of himself and he's had a relatively easy time of it so far. Now that he has to actually start campaigning I think he will become even more "old" appearing.

I really wish Obama would go ahead and do some townhall meetings with McCain. Seeing the two of them side by side would open a lot of eyes as long as the audience wasn't stacked with McCain supporters whose only comments would be to thank him for his service. :eyes:

[kentuck]

11. Also...

Being an old Senator is different from being an old President. It's a much tougher job.

[NatBurner]

10. he's older than his 71 years

and i don't believe he's fully in control of his faculties

i felt the same way about reagan, even though i was in grade school at the time

[LeftishBrit]

12. I think he was probably *born* too old to be president!

There have been many people of his age and older who have been very good leaders. But he is far too rigid and set in his ways - and probably always was.

[napi21]

13. Yes, but it's not his age in years! Compare him to Frank Lautenberg.

Frank is OLDER than John, but listen to Fran. Watch him walk, converse with people & even his appearance. John's foolish story about how old his mother is, and that longevity is in his genes is just that...foolish! His mother never had cancer! She wasn't imprisoned and tortured for 5 years! There's simply no comparison!

[kentuck]

19. Right !

Tim Russert just died and his father is still alive?? Go figure.

[endarkenment]

14. Too old? No. But perhaps he has mild dementia.

He seems to have trouble keeping basic facts about the middles east straight in his head. It isn't about his age it is about his fitness, and he seems to be not fit enough mentally.

[Fovea]

16. I am not concerned about his age

but I think one needs to consider his medical history and possible psychiatric status.

[Wwagsthedog]

17. mccain is joe lieberman's mouthpiece

[all.of.me]

18. 72 is not old these days, but...

... the ideas that generation has are old. My gut feeling is that he does not represent today's atmosphere. Kids (I say that loosely, being 54) do not care so much about Viet Nam. They are concerned about things he cannot relate to, things he has not experienced. He reminds me of my parents. They were staunch Republicans, conservative, stuffy social climbers. They freaked out raising us in the 60s! My mother was 90 for the 2004 election. She asked me who I voted for, I said, Not for Bush! And she said, Well, someday you'll learn.... McCain reminds me of her. So out of touch with what is really happening in the world, especially with younger people. You have to move ahead with the times. It's not easy, but you have to bend a little. This is where Obama has the edge on McCain - he appeals to the people McCain does not grasp. More likely, he does not even know they exist.

So yeah, to answer your question, his ideas, his platform, is outdated.

[droidamus2]

20. Yes he is!!!!

Each generation must pass the reigns of control to the next. Unfortunately in this country that power is tied to money and those with that kind of money are usually older (with the exception of those with 'new' money). Oh let's face their OLD! They don't like to give up their control until their in the grave. In order for this country to move forward we need to keep our leadership on the younger side but not too young. The founding fathers had a point in making sure the leadership would not be too young as those on the younger side tend to be the real risk takers and I think can be more swayed be the emotions of the moment, but on the other hand those on that are old tend to be set in their ways, which may be more than a few years behind the times, and not willing to face the needs of the current generation. Another thing to think about is if you are 70+ years old the programs you institute or decisions you make will be the burden of the 'next' generation as you are in the later part of your life and will probably not see the full long term effects. That is a dangerous idea that a person can make a decision that in the end they won't have to deal with the long term effects. So keeping the leadership in the middle years keeps them invested in their decisions, gives them a clearer view (I think) of the current situation and needs of the country. They are not fighting old wars, they are not trying to turn everything back to those 'good old days', they are not protecting old technologies that they are invested in, and they have the energy to see their ideas through. In the end I would not vote for anybody over 70 no matter what party they were running for and 65 is pushing it. If I have to retire so should the politicians. If this makes me an 'ageist' so be it but that is the way I feel.

[whistle]

21. Ronald Reagan was 69 when elected president in 1980 and McCain is now 71

....yes, too old even to be a one term president!

[rocktivity]

22. No, he's not too old--just too feeble-minded

I had no problem voting for 86-year Frank Lautenberg (NJ). But he has something that McCain (and Bush, for that matter) do not--ample evidence that he is still of sound mind. Advancing age should not be automatically equated with senility--it should be determined on a case-by-case basis, and McCain's obvious early dementia doesn't measure up.

:headbang:
rocknation

[Erin Elizabeth]

27. It's not even so much that he's too old.

It's that he's apparently mentally impaired.

We've already suffered under a president dumber than a bag of hammers for the last eight years, this poor country and poor world can't take another month of that shite, much less four more years.

[Hippo_Tron]

28. A bag of hammers called, they are insulted by that comparison...

[Erin Elizabeth]

33. I know, I felt really badly about that, but

I'm down to inanimate objects to describe the guy at this point. What else can I do?

How about "nothing as stupid as Bush is known to exist in our galaxy."

Does that work?

[Algorem]

29. bombing experience + anger management problem +dementia?

i call that gravitas.

[Tillseptember]

30. he's too bad to be president

regardless of age.

[Dems to Win]

31. Yes, he's too old and too ill.

My parents are McCain's age. In the last 4 years, my competent, intelligent, active parents have made a couple of financial decisions that have made me go Huh? (nothing too big, thank goodness). They would never have been suckered in earlier years, I am 100% sure.

Via my father-in-law, I'm acquainted with how one can be impaired by various prescription medications -- heart, blood pressure, cholestrol, etc. They can impair a person's cognitive abilities and temperament. Jon Stewart's show did a piece about all of McCain's illnesses and meds -- the above 3 plus thyroid meds (as best I can remember the list) and AMBIEN (a sleeping med, probably taken to relieve the side-effects of all the others). Regularly taking sleeping pills can wreak havoc with your brain, as they don't allow you to get truely natural REM cycles.

I wouldn't vote for McCain even if I agreed with his philosophy. I don't think he is anywhere near physically and mentally fit enough for the demanding job.

[opihimoimoi]

32. He represents old ways...not new ones....up to this point...nada new...all old

[papapi]

34. McLame is so old Adam & Eve called him gramps.

[ToeBot]

35. It's not his chronological age, it's the senility. nt

[FrenchieCat]

36. Doesn't know a PC from a MAC.

That's too out of touch and dated for him to be our next 21st Century leader.

Just saying. :thumbsdown:

[musicblind]

37. No he is not too old.

I don't want a republican for president, but 71 is not too old to be president. I'm in my early-mid 20's I hope that in 50 years when I am in my early-mid 70's that I will not be considered "feeble" because of a mere number on my driver's license.

[Skittles]

38. NO n/t