Photo: iStockphoto (toddler), Getty Images
Yesterday the Boston Globe reported a Bill Clinton quote that suggested that old people are savvier than young people, because they’re not taken in by Barack Obama’s rhetoric. “I think there is a big reason there’s an age difference in a lot of these polls,” he said. “Because once you’ve reached a certain age, you won’t sit there and listen to somebody tell you there’s really no difference between what happened in the Bush years and the Clinton years.” Being older, in other words, means you’re probably a bit wiser and have a longer memory. Okay, fair point. But as Globe writer Scott Helman points out, Bubba had recently used the frailties of age as an excuse to cover for his wife’s recent sniper gaffe: “When [her critics are], they’ll forget something when they’re tired at 11 o’clock at night, too.” Soo … being old means you kind of don’t have that good of a memory, and you don’t make great snap decisions? (If that’s the kind of mistake she’s making at 11 p.m., why the heck is she bragging about what she’ll say at 3 a.m.?) And then today, Clinton surrogate Representative John Murtha went so far as to say that the presidency, in fact, is “no old man’s job” during an introduction of Hillary. “This one guy running is about as old as me!” the 75-year old lawmaker cracked, to laughter and applause (McCain is actually 71). Wait, so if being 60 or older means you can’t think on your feet, but being young means you have no institutional memory, what age should the president be, then? Like, 46?
Bill Clinton: Older voters too savvy to fall for Obama [Boston Globe]
Clinton Backer Says of McCain: ‘It’s No Old Man’s Job’ [NYS]
