That's the question that one Concord (N.H.) High School student posed to Arizona Senator and Republican Presidential Candidate John McCain today.
It's a valid question and McCain sought to deflect it with an attempt at a little humor. (I have added emphasis to the most interesting comment by McCain in the article.)
From the AP, via Breitbart.com:
CONCORD, N.H. (AP) - An unflinching John McCain was told Tuesday by New Hampshire high school students he might be too old to be president and too conservative to be respected. McCain, the Arizona senator whose presidential bid has stumbled through the summer, countered the Concord High School students with humor.
"Thanks for the question, you little jerk," McCain joked back to one student who asked the 71-year-old about his age. "You're drafted."
...
"If elected, you'd be older than Ronald Reagan, making you the oldest president. Do you ever worry you might die in office or get Alzheimer's or some other disease that might affect your judgment?" one student asked.
The audience groaned; McCain slid into a joke.
"I think it was one of my sons that alleged I'm getting to the point I hide my own Easter eggs," McCain said to laughter. "When you saw my 95-year-old mother (on a video introduction), you saw the kind of genes I have."
...
"I came here looking to see a good leader," 16-year-old William Sleaster told McCain, earning himself boos from his classmates. "I don't."
McCain, a veteran of such candid exchanges in New Hampshire, smoothly pushed forward and told the crowd not to disrespect its peer.
"I understand. I thank you," McCain said. "That's what America is all about."
McCain's humor has always been awkward at best. I get calling the kid a "little jerk," but to tell a kid in the audience that "he's drafted?" What the hell kind of message does that send? How is that funny? It just goes to the point made later on by student William Sleaster. He didn't see a good leader and, sadly, neither do I...anymore.
Johnny Mac has been through enough campaigns in New Hampshire to know that this isn't the way to get it done. His campaign "jumped the shark" sometime ago. Now, I'm just flat out disappointed in him.
William Smith
ConservativeBlogger.com
