McCain's Problem: Not Age, but Condition
Barack Obama versus John McCain. One of the first things that supporters of Obama ought to realize is that attacking, belittling or characterizing John McCain by emphasizing his age is a mistake. It is a mistake that may backfire and cost them a lot of votes with seniors in this country.
I don't know about you, but everywhere I look in our society, people over sixty-five are making profound contributions to their chosen fields. Architecture, writing, journalism, painting, education, corporate leadership, law, medicine. You name it. With the exception of actually performing in fields such as sports or ballet, for example, men and women that are John McCain's age are not only contributing, they are at the top of their game.
The problem with John McCain is not his age, it's his condition. McCain's true lack of the abundant energy required to function as president, even performing the job on the most basic level, is what must be questioned. Perhaps McCain could have served in the 1950s, back in a time when the job was significantly less complicated than it is today. However, the world has grown far more dangerous and complicated in the last decade. (I know this because the Bush administration has worked incredibly hard for eight years to convince me of this.) The world today requires that we have a president who has the mental and physical capability and stamina to face issues such as terrorism, global warming and the energy crisis we are currently steeped in, not to mention the link between all three.
John McCain had a relatively brief and less taxing battle for his party's nomination than Barack Obama did. He has had time to rest up. Get mentally fit. Study his notes and come out swinging once he had a clear target. And what have we witnessed thus far? What kind of shape will John McCain be in come September or October, after weeks of stress and pounding from his adversary, who seems right now to be indefatigable?
McCain's ideas are too old, not the Senator himself. McCain's view of this country, his view of the world, are too old. There may be a seventy-two year old Republican Senator/ war hero who has most or all of what it takes to lead this country out of these difficult times. John McCain is not that man.
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McCain's condition is mental recession brought on by weaponized cigarettes.
I am not going to tell you you are all wrong. Newsflash.... All politicians are puppets of the media and the people. They say and do what you want them to, in order for you to like them and vote for them. They all lie, manipulate, and do it with a smile. When they are caught they lie a little more. They all use teleprompter, they all have an earpiece. Not just McCain. Did anybody watch Obama completely forget that to mention to his groupies that they need to send a little money Hillary's way to help pay for her debts too. Is he really teaming up with her? Hillary, spineless as she is husband cheated on her not once, many times with many women., he lied, did she care, why is she still with him, because he was her ticket to the white house and nobody cares. Didnt Hillary lie about landing in the middle of an ambush? Good grief! They are all liars and they all forget about what they did or did not do and lie a little more to cove it up.
That's why I always laughed when people would tell me how pure as the driven snow Obama is/was. I STILL get a good laugh from it.
Mr. Baldwin, I've been wondering about the same thing but I don't think it's up to Team Obama to start hitting McCain over the head with that blunt object. I would keep using the sharp ones like policy issues, and leave this condition-thing (and many other eyebrow raising McCain performance hiccups) up to the few investigative journalists the MSM's got left. Question is how we get 'em to do that. Any suggestions? I doubt the Cowards News Network has the [beep]. Maybe the Never Be Clear or the All But Castrated people?
Seriously, I've been wondering if Mr. McCain's 'forgetfulness' is just a matter of strategy or a symptom of something different. Does he really forget what he's said yesterday when stating the complete opposite today in another speech or statement? I've seen and heard him do that. Too many times for it to be considered as 'coincidence'. The mind boggles. I thougt it was me hearing things, but video comparison after the fact told me otherwise. I've since learned I'm not the only one who's noticed this (to use an understatement ). Maybe he just doesn't realise that everything he says is being recorded so people can actually see for themselves how he swirls and sways? I have yet to find real, well argumented evidence of Mr. Obama flipping, flopping or U-turning like that.
I believe McCain's inability to relate to the newest two generations in this country is a problem.
He didn't bother trying to understand, much less learn the ways, of the information age. He can't even turn a computer ON. THAT makes him a dinosaur.
Maybe his age isn't an issue - but his ignorance of the technical world around him is.
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This old lady believes McCain is not only "too old" but also too "confused"! I see signs of "dementia" each time he speaks..........he uses wrong words, forgets the right ones in connection ot terror groups AND saying by selling tobacco to Iraq's is "one way to kill them"...is really plain stupid and ignorant. The more he speaks out the more he makes a mockery of hisself and his views...I think the "pressure" of running a campaign is getting to him.....CAN YOU IMAGINE HOW HE'D BE AS PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES...........God forbid!!
Yes - but the King-making Corporate Media don't care. He's their guy.
You didn't think what we wanted mattered, did you?
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I think his response to the Viagra/birth control question is indicative of what we can expect from him if he (god forbid) assumes the role of President. I don't expect politicians to have a snappy answer to every random question, but something bordering on coherent would be impressive at this point.
I think McCain’s lack of intellect will be what dooms him in the end.
John McCains lack of understanding of the economy is his downfall.
McCain says we are better off under George Bush.
John McCain says we made great progress economically during the Bush years.
If Americans’ financial woes are all in their heads, John McCain’s assessment of George W. Bush’s economic leadership is pure hallucination. Asked by Bloomberg’s Peter Cook on April 17 if Americans would say they are better off today than before George Bush took office more than seven years ago, McCain replied: I think if you look at the overall record and millions of jobs have been created, et cetera, et cetera, you could make an argument that there’s been great progress economically over that period of time.
Yep. A pregnant pause of major proportion.
you are 100% right thank you and i have nothing more to add
Thanks....seriously can't you just see a visual of that? Guys in a van outside feeding him lines and then the microphone falls out of McCain's ear and then he's on his own. Reminds me of True Lies with ARNOLD.
Lyinging appears to come easy to those who think they can still manipulate the american public.. What will these Repugs do when they don't have a job anymore...oh yeah, most of them have been BOUGHT AND PAID FOR they will be fine.
Obama 08/12
The condition that McCain seems to have (which is lieing through his dentures) appears to be okay with the Republicans...why, he can't stay co-herent very long and they will use him as a puppet.
"Here John....read the prompter and read this and then don't answer any questions, we'll put a small microphone in your ear and feed you the lines. Remember....we will feed you the lines! Let us handle handle that. We will have a long line of people, Gramm, Bush, etc., answering the necessary questions that requires their expertise...you just keep walking back and forth and let me believe you are "thinking" of a good answer."
No more republicans in office period. I am hoping Obama takes Hagel into his cabinet if not VP. A republication turning democrat. That should start a firestorm.
HAHAHA CA40........."READ THE PROMPTER".....HE CAN'T EVEN DO THAT RIGHT!! GOD HELP US IF BY SOME CHANGE HE BECOMES PRESIDENT....HE'LL BE WORSE THAN BUSH!!
Age per se should not be an issue, but mental fitness certainly should be; and McCain's repeated misstatements of fact, even after being publicly corrected, are symptomatic of cognitive impairment. He reminds me of Reagan, whose gaffes were treated by the media and public as a sort of charming inattention to detail, when in fact he was sliding into Alzheimer's. And then there's the much younger George "This-is-your-brain-on-drugs-and-religion" Bush.
I do not understand why ALL presidential candidates, regardless of age, are not required to undergo evaluation by an independent panel of neurologists. One who wishes to enlist at the lowest rank of the army presumably undergoes some sort of mental testing. But the commander-in-chief? Naah!
Wikipedia's list of people born in the same year:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1936#Births
I agree.
I am a liberal Democrat still I squirm when watching McCain struggling unsuccessfuly to put his thoughts together. It's painful to watch his bewilderment. And his confusion. And his memory loss. And his reversals on policy. And his limited intelligence.
A year ago, before the breadth of his limitations became clear to me, I relished the thought of McCain and Obama mano a mano in a televised debate. No longer. It will be ugly. Like putting a badger and a bunny in a cage together. He is a sad spectacle.
The guy is way out of his depth. And despite the fact that he's a cold-blooded Republican I feel sorry for him.
The GOP has found itself with a pig in a poke. And because of that many Republicans will be tempted to find a more nimble candidate at the convention, I bet.
I feel the same way. I believe that Obama is avoiding joint town halls in order to avoid looking like a bully against his enormously outmatched opponent.
PuppaX --I so agree! I was thinking that when the repubs were using that as to say Mr. Obama is afraid of McCain.
Mr Baldwin, I disagree with you on many things, but not on this one. This article is spot on, and better than anything I've seen anywhere on this topic. Thank you, thank you!
It's not his chronchronical age 71 i find fault with he does not have a platform he's allover the place.
his thinking is yesterday not tommorow i'm thinking about out childrens future/ his days is numbered
he can't remember what he said 2 minutes ago i have a problem with that. mccain does not care about the average person meat & pototes issues we face everyday. he also has anger management problems
Alec,
There is something suspicious about McCain's health, and the media is just ignoring it. The McCain campaign gave a select group of non-national reporters all of two hours to examine his huge medical file. In that amount of time, no one could possibly figure out if things were missing . . . all they could do is look around a bit and conclude all was A-OK with the guy. But that tactic alone indicates to me that there's something they don't want the public to know, something that was omitted from the medical file which would never be discovered in two hours. It could be drugs he's taking they don't want us to know about, or problematic effects of his war wound or something else. But where's the outrage about this? McCain's medical situation has been covered up--a sign that, if he's elected, we're getting a less-than-healthy man and a dishonest one.
Alex: McC would have been only 22 in 1958 since he was born in 1936. He wouldn't have been old enough to serve in the House of Representatives.
Mr. Baldwin,
This was supposed to make the elderly feel better than just saying he's too old? "Condition" makes it sound like he's sick, and given your emphasis on his lack of "mental fitness," you've come astonishingly close to referring to him as a dottering old man, or worse, as having Alzheimer's
Sir, I would assert that things from without have changed very little: we are still locked in an ideological struggle with an enemy that believes we are immoral and corrupt. But things ARE different from within. Voting for the wrong man used bad leadership, which both parties have been guilty of. Voting for the wrong man now could turn this imperial republic into a despotic empire.
Mr Baldwin, we are still locked in an ideological struggle. What makes Senator McCain the wrong choice is neither his age, nor his fitness, but his support for ideas that have already undermined the very fabric of this Republic.
To those of us that hold our freedoms as sacred, Senator McCain is neither too old, nor too frail. Having allied himself with the despot, George W. Bush, he has shown himself to be an internal danger that threatens our individual liberties. He served us well in the armed forces and as a Senator. But we cannot risk his Presidency furthering the encroachment upon individual rights, perpetrated by the Bush Administration.
"Those who would trade essential liberties for security in the end deserve neither." - Benjamin Franklin.
Herald Freedom.
Increasingly, when McCain is speaking he seems to be having a hard time staying on track with his thoughts. The Republican power structure seems to prefer candidates who are easily manipulated and controlled, (like Bush). Eight years ago John McCain was a different man. He was stronger and his party eviscerated his candidacy with lies. Today, he is so much weaker and it is apparent. I think that is why the Republican power structure allowed him to be the nominee.
Republicans who truly love this country and want to preserve its values should ask themselves why their Presidential candidates seem more like puppets than leaders. The Republican party leadership that gave this country Bush and now McCain, seems to have values other than the ones that I believe you treasure.
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