Tuesday, February 27, 2007
A Washington Post/ABC poll confirms that the American people don't trust the elderly, especially when it comes to being the president of the USA.
In this poll, nearly six in 10 Americans said they would be less likely to vote for an older candidate. For example, while 58 percent said they would be less likely to vote for a candidate older than 72, a scant three percent said they would be more likely to prefer such a candidate.
Is this ageism, or practicality here? McCain would be older than Reagan at the start of his first term, and that didn't turn out too well. McCain would then be 76 in 2013 after his first four years in office ended. Many of us have relatives in that age range. I suspect some of the bias might be knowing how difficult these people can be at times, no matter how much we love them (even though we don't call that often, and it doesn't cost that much to pick up a phone to call the person who used to feed you jello casserole when you were a kid).
McCain apparently is getting a bit cranky and crochety. Americans often want a president to be a father figure, but a grandfather figure might be a bit too much. We are in the age of the internet, high tech medical advances, satellites, Ipods. Do we really want a president who can honestly say "back when I was a kid, we didn't have that fancy tv device, and we were happy!"
You ever notice how people who talk that way tend not to be happy seniors? But, on the bright side for McCain, while 58% of people may not vote for him, alot of these people are cynical twenty-somethings who don't bother to vote anyways. Perhaps McCain can motivate the senior set who vote alot since they have nothing much else to do. They might support his campaign as a last defiant stand against the young whippersnappers.
A senior special in every restaurant as a campaign slogan may not be as near and dear to McCain's hearts as flip flopping to support Jerry Falwell. It may however, be his only shot at winning.
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