I get a lot of political e-mails from all quarters, all mindsets. I think I've received more e-mails from Ralph Nader supporters than there are Ralph Nader supporters.
For some reason, most of the recent messages that say I shouldn't vote for John McCain are emphasizing his age and trying to get me to grasp how old 71 really is.
People, I get it. I know how old he is and I know how old 71 is. I don't need a factual comparison to the life span of the Galapagos Tortoise to understand the concept. No one does. Most of us have at some point in our lives encountered a human being who is in their seventies. I've even, you may find this hard to believe, met people in their eighties.
(Sarcasm aside: The oldest person I ever met was the great Broadway director, George Abbott. He was 102 at the time, confined to a wheelchair and unable to speak for more than a few minutes without gulping oxygen. I'd still vote for him for President before I'd vote for a lot of much younger individuals who may be on my ballot.)
In any case, no one needs to be reminded of McCain's age, nor do we have to hear suggestions that he may not live through the debates. Personally, I have plenty of other, more pressing reasons to not vote for the guy. There was a time when I might have, depending on who the Democrats nominated, but that was a different John McCain. That was the one who called guys like Jerry Falwell "agents of intolerance" and occasionally bucked the G.O.P. line on issues where his vote mattered. I have yet another reason today, having just read McCain's proposals for dealing with Climate Change. They pretty much come down to "Let's do something so we can say we're doing something but let's make sure it never costs any business a nickel."
My point is that I know the guy's 71 and I can look at him on TV and decide if that's too old. I'm also capable of figuring out that Barack Obama is black, that Hillary Clinton is a woman and that Bob Barr is going to get as many electoral votes as I am. Thank you.