Comments on The Crazy Old Man Card

This analysis is dead-on.

Except, that is, for one quibble. You summarize the asymmetry between race-baiting and age-baiting by saying "elections aren't fair". That's a strange idea of electoral fairness. If there are a lot more old voters than black voters, then a prioritization of the interests of old people over black people is precisely what a fair, democratic process is supposed to bring about.

It would be far wiser to attack McCain as a 26 year part of the problems this country now faces. Oil company lackey. Deregulation has lead to one disaster after another. Never did anything about health care. Etc.
If you go after the age, you risk being labeled prejudicial, not very wise when old people ALWAYS vote. Why not instead play up Obama's youth and vigor. Keep him making those net shots. Let people infer the age thing from that.

Mainly Obama should not "attack" McCain for being a "crazy old man" because it's inaccurate and morally wrong (at least by my standards).

There are tons of pictures that make McCain look old. Really old. None of them appear in these Obama ads. THAT'S how subtle these, uh, age attacks are. Subtle as FUCK. Subtle like the wind. Phantom subtle.

Pure genius. Or something.

I'm still waiting for the Dems to create ads spouting off McCain's association the the Keating 5 and S&L scandals. However, he was the only Republicans amoung the other 4 Dems.

With all the Race baiting, the Republicans are two steps away from creating ads directly saying Obama's black or a n&#@!* with WASP men wearing KKK hoods. However, doing that would basically make them lose of their Jewish support with the exception of Lieberman.

Excellent analysis, Eli. I'd claim you were reading my mind but I know you'd never pick up something so terribly written :-)

#5 beat me to it. Not only is McCain one of the Keating Five, he happens to be running for president in the middle of an enormous credit crisis. I guess one could perversely argue that his past mistakes make him more vigilant, but I think most voters would tend to see this as an indictment of his character, and without his character, what does McCain have?

Obama should not use this attack.

We should use this attack.

Presidents have to be above the fray, not exploding in anger like McCain does when he thinks someone stole his donut that's sitting right next to him on the table, under his "age spotted" hand.

the other side to this is that by pointing out McCain's age directly, Obama also points out his relative youth and inexperience.

The problem with this analysis is that it assumes that old people will be offended by the age card. A Gallup poll last month suggested that this may not be the case at all:
http://tinyurl.com/5vhqoj

Instead, it is very possible that elderly people who feel themselves slowing down may be more open to the idea that someone their age wouldn't be as an effective president as they once might have been. So as long as the card is played with non-offensive subtle perfect pitch I see it as a definite smart move.

We won't support spine-less NO-Bama and will re-defeat him in November!!!

Youth?

Um, according to the Constitution, you have to be 35 to run for President.

Obama's a lot older than that.

Like, more than a decade.

You know, half of that time McCain was cheating on his wife in public with, in DC.

"Experience"? At what, having lax morals and accepting lobbyist bribes to sell out America's Middle Class? Yeah, Obama may not have that - but McCain has that in spades.

Speaking of spades, did you hear John McCain's favorite joke during the 70s?

@10, interesting polling and yet...I think there's a difference between an elderly person being asked about McCain's age by a pollster, and being insulted by extension should Obama adopt Plan COM.

I reckon they could work up a head of steam over age-focused slights about as fast as Af-Ams moved from Hillary Clinton after several coded slights at them from Bill and other surrogates.

It's a matter of degree, I reckon...placid polling question versus emotional reaction to being placed on a virtual ice floe.

*I reckon they could work up a head of steam over age-focused slights about as fast as Af-Ams moved from Hillary Clinton after several coded slights at OBAMA from Bill and other surrogates.

Maybe you're right about avoiding direct attacks, but they should feature his neck wattle in every photo they can. They should make his name synonymous with jowls and wattles and creepy fake smiles. Wattlegate!

Kelly O and Ari Spool give Fnarf can of Rize, Fnarf drink Rize, freak out, troll out, FNARF BECOME CLINTONSARMY!

CLINTONSARMY WILL NOT SUPPORT SPINE-LESS NO-BAMA AND WILL RE-DEFEAT HIM IN NOVEMBER!

And no, I don't feel like letting it go.

My Dad, who is a 60+ slightly right of center moderate living in Arizona, is concerned that McCain is too old to be president based on what he knows of other 70+ year olds around him. If Obama can highlight that, without direcly calling old people worthless, it could work.

I don't think they they to "attack" McCain about his age, but constant reminders might help. Everyone remembers what a mess Reagan was. And Perot. And Admiral what's-his-name.

I think the Admiral was younger than McCain.