HuffPo: McCain’s “Grandpa Problem”
A Huffington Post blog bangs home what we’re tryin to tell ya’all: John McCain is too fucking old and batshit crazy to be the next president. We need stability (not senility) “my friends” - not an old grandfather struggling and confused that may die in his sleep any night, or any moment.
His series of gaffes will no doubt become coveted ammunition, perhaps as damaging as his suggestion that the war might last 100 years. But they are also evidence of a larger problem McCain faces on the trail: the Grandpa problem. As a 71 year old man, John McCain would be the oldest man ever elected president. Recognizing the enormous rigor of the job, and the toll it has etched on the faces of those who have held it, many wonder if McCain can serve competently, and whether he will even contemplate a second term. Each time McCain makes a mistake on the campaign trail — as he is often prone to do — he will face questions about age, and whether the campaign and the presidency will strain him beyond his capacity.
He cannot afford to be seen as a grandfather confronting the first signs of senility. It would have been far better for McCain to have corrected the misstatements himself, hours, even days, after making the initial blunders. But having Senator Lieberman whisper the answer in his ear produced an undeniable imagery, that of weakness and dependency, of a grandfather struggling and confused. [I]f he continues to show an alarming lack of knowledge on subjects crucial to the country, he may well help hasten his downfall.
