Presidential race wide open as Kentucky Derby

by David Grand
May 23, 2007

When asked how old I am, I usually smile and give my pat response, that you only judge a person by their age when there's nothing else to judge them by and that a man is only as old as his arteries. And more than not, they respond by saying I don't look my age.

And while that's a good ego-booster, I know that one's outward appearance can be misleading and that I no longer have the vim and vigor I had in my sixties, that my body is on a downward slope or that I can still turn a young woman's eyes in my direction.

What brought the subject of advancing age to mind was Sen. John McCain's recent interview on the Meet the Press show, hosted by Tim Russert. He had the dubious honor of being the first one grilled in the Meet the Candidates 2007 series.

No doubt those waiting in the dugout for their turn at bat had their eyes glued to the screen to see how well he held up under the pointed questions that poured out of Russert's mouth like bullets from a machine gun.

And well they might view facing him with trepidation, renown as he is for throwing curve balls, sinkers and "head shots"occasionally.

Moreover, they know that going one-on-one in an in-depth interview is more likely to reveal their "true selves" (for better or worst) than appearing on the stage with others, where the camera is focused on 'em only briefly and where they have plenty of wiggle room in answering the expected questions.

As regards Sen. McCain's performance on the "hot seat," he held up pretty well--never stuttering, stammering or losing his composure, or groping for words like old timers are prone to do.

And the only time he showed any signs of irritation was when Russert brought up the subject of his age at the end of the interview, by reminding him of what he'd said about running again following his unsuccessful campaign for president in 2000; namely, "In 2004 I expect to campaign for the re-election of George Bush, but by the year 2008 I believe my age would not equip me to run."

To twist the dagger a little more, Russert said: "On the day of your inauguration on January 20, 2009 you'd be 72 years old, three years older than Reagan at the start of his first term and four years older than William Henry Harrison when he was sworn into office.

After muttering "mm-hmm" several times, he claimed to be in excellent health and with a high level of energy, adding that he'd recently hiked the entire Grand Canyon with his son from "rim to rim." (Heaven forbid he'd ever ride a donkey on the trail.)  But you know Harrison died in a matter of months after he took the oath, said Russert in driving the dagger deeper. "Yea, poor guy," McCain responded, which brought the interview to a merciful end. (Note: I printed a transcript of the interview, so I couldn't be accused of any misquotes.)

Now, while it's true that I'd said in a column I wrote during his campaign in 2000 that he's the one candidate I'd cross party lines to vote for were he to be the nominee. Sadly, I cannot repeat that today. And not because of his age, but rather because of his unalterable, go-for-broke support for the war. For someone whose seen and  personally suffered so much from the horrors of war, I'd expect him to be the first one to say, enough is enough. But alas, throughout my life all my heroes have had "feet of clay."