CKG's response (over on
the faceboob) to my post about
voting got me thinking the following about John McCain:
- Something that was mentioned before the primaries began but has been swept under the rug since is McCain's age. He's going to be 72 when the election rolls around. That's old. Of course, McCain will likely have the best health care in the world (and probably has for quite some time). But he fought in wars and was in a POW camp for 5-1/2 years. That takes a toll. It has to. So, not to be mean, but how much longer does this guy have? Barack Obama catches a cold, it's likely no big deal. A 70-something man catches a cold and pneumonia becomes a real concern. I'm just saying.
- The flip side of this is the old vote. We hear a lot about how Obama is young and therefore will carry the young vote. Why wouldn't McCain carry the old vote? Wouldn't old people want to see a president they relate to in the same way young folks want to see a hip, good-looking young guy like Obama?
- CKG mentioned talk of a McCain-Huckabee ticket (assiming McCain gets the nod, which I think is reasonable). I think this is a scary ticket for the democrats. If you look at the votes McCain has won, they're primarily not with conservatives. He's gobbling up all the independents and others. What the big concern is now for the republicans is whether or not McCain can secure enough of the hard right vote (which he struggles to do primarily due to his liberal views on immigration)h. I think Huckabee and his religious values make him an appealing V.P. to Christian-conservative voters who would like to see him slide into office in, say, 8 years. Not to mention, Huckabee is a good 20 years younger than McCain, so that would help balance out the age issue I mentioned above.
[As I write, Mittens decides to execute his bid for office. It's been a bad week for New England. I wonder where his delegates will go....]
With respect to your old vote comment... We hear about how the ageing baby boomers will effect Social Security all the time, but I suppose that demographic shift will be felt at the ballot box as well. That's gonna suck. Considering how much the boomers screwed up when they were young (hippies), I imagine they'll do something absurd at the end of their lives.
ReplyDeletewell! it seems someone has gotten another bloggy-blog.
ReplyDeleteAnother point of note to this post: Old people vote, young people don't. It happened to Gore in 2000 and Kerry in 2004. There was lots of rah-rah on the part of young people 18-30 for both the Democratic candidates, but when rubber met the road, old people with nothing to do other than complain and vote did just that, while the young folk just got high and/or drunk again. If we get stuck with another candidate we don't like, it's for no other reason than our own combination of laziness/unrealized expectations.