How Old Is Too Old?

But the kid was only acknowledging the elephant on the campaign trail. There's been plenty of talk during primary season about gender and race; it's age that has become taboo. While there is a minimum age of 35 to be elected president, there's no maximum. Perhaps that's why it's more acceptable to suggest that a contender is callow than over the hill. Each time I'm described as middle-aged the 25-year-old still living deep inside me lets out a scream.

Granted, I now have a perspective, a wisdom, a more comprehensive body of knowledge, if only I could remember it. But words elude me occasionally, which is challenging for a wordsmith. More important, there's a certain spark that now smolders sometimes. So where's the sweet spot, that moment when the timeline of experience intersects perfectly with the trajectory of excitement? It's different times for different people, but it seldom occurs late in life.

Please, please—don't feel the need to let me know that you're 82, swim every morning and finish the New York Times crossword, in ink, even on Saturday. I'm aware that there are women and men who perform brilliantly at arduous jobs far past the time the rest of us would be phoning it in or tuning it out. But the job McCain seeks is like no other, in its demands and its import. It's significant that while the old mandatory retirement age of 65 has been largely junked, there are still age limits for jobs like airline pilot or police officer, the kinds of jobs that require some of the same skills as the presidency—unwavering mental acuity and physical energy.

Political operatives say that his age makes McCain's choice of a running mate particularly critical. But if you enter the process stressing a hedge against mortality or incapacity, shouldn't that suggest something about suitability for the job in the first place? The senator's pursuit of the presidency reminds me a bit of those women who decide to have a baby in their late 50s. The impulse is understandable, the goal possible. But, looking at all the facts, and the actuarial tables, is it really sensible?

© 2008