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08 Aug 2008 04:33 pm

The Age Issue, Ctd.

A reader writes:

One of the readers who responded with some disgust at your "ageism" toward McCain suggested that Obama may be just as much of a risk because his mother died of cancer and the incidences of some cancers are dependent on genetics, whereas Momma McCain is alive and kicking, so maybe McCain will live to be 95.

1) I don't think we have to worry about Obama dying from ovarian or uterine cancer, which is what killed his mother. Meanwhile, John McCain has had a deadly form of cancer already.

2) In any event, the age question, in this case at least, is not so much about mortality but ability and the brains of these two men. People in their seventies tend to have cognitive impairment. Cognitive impairment can be a big problem, especially if the sufferer is the leader of the freaking free world. Barack Obama is far less likely than McCain to suffer from cognitive impairment or senility. But to top it off, McCain really does exhibit signs of age-related cognitive impairment.

So, to sum up, McCain has had a deadly form of cancer, he is 71, and he does sometimes seem like a doddering, irrational, unpredictable person. Meanwhile, Obama is much younger, has not had cancer, and shows no signs of cognitive impairment. In terms of who we should worry about the most, health-wise, there's simply no contest.

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