Murtha says McCain too old to be president

[Ron Burgundy]

AP - Democratic Rep. John Murtha said Wednesday that Republican Sen. John McCain is too old to be president.

Murtha is 75, four years older than McCain. He says they are nearly the same age, and the rigors and stress of running the country is too much for guys their age.

"I've served with seven presidents," Murtha told a union audience. "When they come in, they all make mistakes. They all get older."

"This one guy running is about as old as me," he said, drawing laughter and applause. "Let me tell you something, it's no old man's job."

If elected, McCain would be the oldest man to become president at age 72. Ronald Reagan became president at age 69, but he served as president for eight years and was just a few weeks shy of his 78th birthday when he left office.

Murtha, a Democrat from Pennsylvania, made the comments while introducing the candidate he has endorsed, New York Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, to the AFL-CIO's Building Trades National Legislative Conference.

Clinton referred to Murtha's introduction when she took the stage, saying she was grateful to have his endorsement and agreed with his sentiment that it will be difficult to turn around all the damage of the Bush administration. She didn't mention his comments on McCain's age, and the campaign sought to distance itself from the comments.

Clinton spokesman Mo Elleithee said Clinton "considers Senator McCain a friend, and she respects him. But it's not his age she has a problem with, its his ideas for the future."

Earlier this week, McCain was asked about his age and he joked about it, at first feigning sleep.

"Watch me campaign. We keep a heavier schedule. We campaign harder," he said Monday during The Associated Press annual meeting. "People will judge me by my performance. I am confident that my energy, my intellect, my experience, and my judgment is what American people will — hopefully that they will view me as qualified to be president of the United States."

His campaign said Wednesday Murtha's comments were "nonsense attacks."

Of the Democratic candidates, Clinton is 60 and Sen. Barack Obama is 46.

McCain and Murtha are both Vietnam veterans who have worked closely on national security issues. Age hasn't slowed Murtha down. After Democrats took control of the House in the 2006 election, Murtha sought the House majority leader position but was defeated.

source: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080416/ap_on_el_pr/murtha_mccain [link]

[goldenponderbob]

Given the chance, I intend to vote and even volunteer to work for Obama.

Nevertheless, I am mindful that many astute democrats in 1960 were more than a little concerned about Kennedy's youth.

That a McCain victory means we will have had twelve consecutive years of GOP control of the executive branch by 2012, I had hoped someone like Murtha might wonder publicly just what the republicans had done to deserve that. To me that's a much bigger deal than a 72 year old candidate.

I hope you weren't going to forget to include the fact that Reagan did get elected to the Presidency in 1984 at age 73 with considerable independent and democratic support.

Just for the record

.

[motivez]

He is pretty old, as much as the office wears on people, it makes you wonder whether or not there should be an upper age limit like there's a lower one..

I think there probably should be, but of course it'd be arbitrary and obviously people age differently..

I am kinda disturbed by McCain's "senior moments" or whatever you want to call them, repeatedly getting the facts on very important issues wrong.. but I don't know that he's really too old to be in office

If I was supporting him though, I'd have to take a serious look at his VP pick and decide whether or not I could live with them in case something happened to him, more strenuously than with younger candidates.

[Galactic Gigolo]

Maybe Murtha should step down. Surely being a Senator is stressing on the mind.

[JaJae]

I don't think there should be an upper age limit, but I think people should take his age into consideration when deciding who to vote for. He better pick a good VP.