2016 elections - because it's never too early

[derspiess]

First thing I thought of with that logo was the Cuban flag.

You have some issues

  It's a cool flag.

[crazy canuck]

Is Bush going to run this time around or will he let Sure Thing Clinton run her course and then give it a try?

[derspiess]

He'll be in.  In 4 or 8 years he'll be considered too old (though you don't dare say that about Hillary now).  Plus he has the backing of the establishment of the party and the best fundraising connections of any likely GOP candidate. 

[garbon]

(though you don't dare say that about Hillary now).

Odd given that most outlets have been talking about that for years now.

[Berkut]

He'll be in.  In 4 or 8 years he'll be considered too old (though you don't dare say that about Hillary now).

Who doesn't dare say that? I've heard it said at least three times since she announced, and that is only a couple days. She is old, no question.

What a bizarre as thing to say. The sense of persecution is just creepy in the right.

[crazy canuck]

(though you don't dare say that about Hillary now). 

You are right.  I don't dare say it.  But I have noticed a lot of US commentators are not as restrained.

An article from the CBC before she announced noting all the work the Republicans had already done to make her age an issue.

Fox News host Mike Huckabee, who hasn't ruled out another run at the Republican nomination (he tried in 2008), said last month that he's not sure Clinton will run.

"I think everybody assumes she will but look, she's going to be at an age where it's going to be a challenge for her," he said before going on to criticize her record as the U.S.'s top diplomat.

National Journal columnist Charlie Cook recently broached the topic in a piece that prompted more than 4,200 comments on the magazine's website as well as accusations of sexism.

Cook didn't say that Clinton shouldn't run because of her age, he tried to make the point that perhaps she herself is taking it into consideration in making her decision. Becoming president is typically a nine-year commitment by taking a year to run then serving two four-year terms, the maximum allowed.

Worries about wrinkles

Cook wrote that her rigorous schedule as secretary of state took a toll on Clinton's health and that the pace of a campaign is even more intense and she would be enduring it at an older age.

"This is not necessarily an end-all-be-all argument that she should or would not run, simply that she likely would have to think long and hard as to whether she is physically up to the rigours of running and serving in office," he wrote.

Howard Kurtz noted in a Media Buzz column on Foxnews.com on the questions being raised about Clinton's age that women politicians are scrutinized more than men when it comes to their birthdays.

"Hillary — she of the ever-changing hairstyles — has to worry about wrinkles in a way that male candidates do not." He also warned that if Clinton critics try and use her age against her it could backfire.

Indeed the Republicans will have to be careful if they want to make an issue out of her age. Baby Boomer voters may be insulted and alienated if they claim someone in their late 60s is too old to be president. Plus their own candidate in 2008, Sen. John McCain, was 72 when he ran against Obama.

Vice-President Joe Biden, who would be 73 come election time, hasn't ruled out a run for the top job and some Republicans have been contrasting his and Clinton's ages with their own potential 2016 candidates.

"Don't tell me that Democrats are the party of the future when their presidential ticket for 2016 is shaping up to look like a re-run of The Golden Girls," Sen. Mitch McConnell told last year's Conservative Political Action Conference.

"We've got Rand Paul, we've got Marco Rubio, we've got Paul Ryan and a slew of smart, young and energetic governors. And the other guys? They've got Hillary and Joe Biden," he said.

Democrats have 'old, tired candidates'

Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal, a 42-year-old Republican who is said to be interested in running for president, has said the Democrats have "old, tired candidates."

If Clinton's and Biden's ages are used against them in the presidential race, the Republicans likely won't be arguing that they are too old to carry out their duties, but rather they've just been around too long, their ideas are stale, and the White House should belong to a younger, fresher face.

The oldest of the potential candidates mentioned by McConnell is Rand Paul at 51, the rest are in their 40s and will be counted on to attract younger voters, who convincingly chose Obama over Mitt Romney and McCain in the last two elections. 

If it is Clinton on the ballot in 2016, she could try and counter the Republican spin on her age by arguing that she's been working in politics virtually as long as some of their potential candidates have been alive and she has the experience they lack to lead the country.

But Clinton, and her husband Bill, are polarizing figures and her age likely will have nothing to do with whether she gets elected or not.

"If Hillary Clinton runs for president and doesn't win it's not going to be because of her age,' the National Journal's Cook said in an interview.


The Democrats have been in for two terms and Obama's approval ratings are abysmal, voters may be looking for a change no matter who is running for the Democrats, he said.

Clinton also has her share of critics based solely on her own record as a New York senator and as secretary of state.


First thing is first though — Clinton has to decide if she will run.

"Having turned 60, I can tell you that people don't make eight or nine-year commitments lightly when they're in their 60s, particularly their late 60s," said Cook.

If Clinton does become president in 2016, she still won't hold the record for oldest elected president — that title goes to the president who is revered, adored and considered nearly flawless by Republicans, Ronald Reagan. He was inaugurated in 1981 at the age of 69, and turned 70 two weeks later. He was 77 when he left the White House.

[derspiess]

According to HRC Super Volunteers, that and lots of other words like polarizing, calculating, disingenuous, insincere, ambitious, will do anything to win, represents the past, out of touch, inevitable, entitled, over confident, defiant are coded sexism and can't be used to describe Hillary.

[derspiess]

What a bizarre as thing to say. The sense of persecution is just creepy in the right.

I ain't persecuted.  I'm checkin' my privilege, yo.

[Valmy]

According to HRC Super Volunteers, that and lots of other words like polarizing, calculating, disingenuous, insincere, ambitious, will do anything to win, represents the past, out of touch, inevitable, entitled, over confident, defiant are coded sexism and can't be used to describe Hillary.

Huh. Well what is left then?

[Admiral Yi]

Huh. Well what is left then?

Menopausal, harpy, shrew, vagina dentata, maneater.

[derspiess]

Post-Menopausal.  And according to this article that is the perfect time for a person to be in a position of great power.  Assuming dementia hasn't set in, I guess.

http://time.com/3763552/hillary-clinton-age-president/

[KRonn]

According to HRC Super Volunteers, that and lots of other words like polarizing, calculating, disingenuous, insincere, ambitious, will do anything to win, represents the past, out of touch, inevitable, entitled, over confident, defiant are coded sexism and can't be used to describe Hillary.

Lol. It figures. Very lame but it'll give some of her peeps reason to cry sexism whenever Hillary is criticized for something, and hope that reason flies in the news cycle.

Same as they do with Obama and criticism is racism.

[Valmy]

Huh. Well what is left then?

Menopausal, harpy, shrew, vagina dentata, maneater.

True. Nothing coded about that.

[Zanza]

She would be younger than Reagan.

[derspiess]

She would be younger than Reagan.

It's a good thing we never heard he was too old.