I think that jokes about John McCain’s age are funny. My band made a borderline-offensive music video where he has old-man tremors in his bathrobe. That said, I don’t actually think that McCain’s age makes him physically or mentally incapable of leading effectively, and any serious efforts to express that will probably backfire.
Seeing this similarly hilarious video of McCain’s deputy e-campaign manager John SooHoo having to explain that McCain is “aware of the internet” made me rethink what the opening is when it comes to McCain’s age:
The phrase “John McCain is aware of the internet” is the best line of the campaign season since Biden’s “noun, verb and 9/11” remark about Giuliani, but it also shows weakness on national security, his supposed strong suit.
People will argue about whether the central front in the war on terror is in Pakistan, Afghanistan, or Iraq all day long, but the real breeding ground for radical Islam is on this here series of tubes. In other words, John McCain, who doesn’t use a computer, jokes that whenever he needs something from one he asks his wife, and has no clue what Google is or does, has to deal with the war on terror with that much knowledge of its real hub.
That to me, is the best framing for McCain’s out-of-touch-ness: a real understanding of the national security threat requires a real understanding of the way information works in this day and age, especially with respect to the enemy. How can we trust McCain to protect us from a threat he admittedly doesn’t understand?
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hahaha not getting the internet…i bet the people at the mill would love to see this article
That’s a good suggestion on framing from the Obama campaign’s perspective.
For us lowly voters, though, jokes about McCain’s age (and pro-war stance, temper, family, etc.) are still quite effective.