Age should not be a factor in election

Frank Bouman, Las Vegas

Monday, April 14, 2008 | 2:02 a.m.

Regarding Richard J. Mundy’s Saturday letter headlined “Early 70s is old by any standard”: The aches and creaks in his own joints may make Mr. Mundy feel that anyone in their early 70s is unfit for the presidency, but he’s certainly not in a position to judge.

The fact is that there is a great deal of variability in the capabilities of persons of any age, and there’s nothing magical about passing 70 that makes one less fit for the presidency than passing one’s 60th, 50th or 40th birthdays.

Although I’m a Barack Obama supporter who is closing in on his 67th birthday (and therefore am more qualified for the presidency than is John McCain, according to Mr. Mundy’s test) I find it hard to find anything about myself or anyone else that is related to a specific age that would make us unfit for the presidency. The same applies to John McCain, who seems to be more physically fit in spite of his imprisonment than many folks I meet who are half his age.

McCain certainly has his weaknesses — he isn’t particularly bright; he can’t seem to get his facts straight; by all reports he has a serious anger management problem (scary thing in a president, that) and he seems to be unable to assimilate new data to help him adjust to the changing face of reality. These aren’t traits of age but they do make him a poor bet for the leader of the world in the 21st century.

Let’s not attack McCain for his age. He’s energetic, forceful and indefatigable. If even half the Democratic politicians in this country were his physical match, the U.S. would be a far better place.

Of course, Obama can run circles around McCain physically, intellectually and judgmentally, and those are some of the reasons why he’ll make a superb president, not because he is 30 years younger than John McCain and 15 years younger than Hillary Clinton.