Hillary Reagan Clinton
2013-07-07 - by
In a sure sign of how much they fear her, Republicans suggest that Hillary Clinton would be too old – 69 in 2016 – to be President.
(Hey, 69 isn’t so old!)
“She’s been around since the ’70s,” one Republican operative said. Another: It would be “a rerun of ‘The Golden Girls’.”
Democrats could reply that Ronald Reagan was 69 and popular with young voters when he was elected President. Or maybe not, given rumors that his faculties diminished during his second term.
Playing the age card in politics is unpredictable. When questions were raised about Reagan’s age in 1984, he used them to demolish Walter Mondale in a debate – settling the issue and the election.
But a smart, subtle independent campaign worked against Senator Elizabeth Dole in 2008. The ads never said: “She’s too old.” They noted instead that she had been in Washington a loooooooong time. Of course, anybody married to Bob Dole had to be old.
Do young voters want a young candidate? Could Paul Ryan or Rand Paul appeal to voters who don’t like Republican positions on women’s rights, immigration, college loans, gay marriage, voter ID, education cuts, etc., etc.?
Age itself probably won’t be the issue. The question is whether Clinton looks like a blast from the past or a fresh voice for the future.
She has enormous potential as a candidate. She could expand the Obama coalition – and the electoral map. She could do even better than he did with a key swing vote: suburban women.
But she ran a terrible campaign in 2008. It was arrogant, unfocused and riven with internal conflict. She’ll have to do better this time.
That will determine whether her age – and experience – work for her, or against her.
Hillary Reagan Clinton
2013-07-07/
In a sure sign of how much they fear her, Republicans suggest that Hillary Clinton would be too old – 69 in 2016 – to be President.
(Hey, 69 isn’t so old!)
“She’s been around since the ’70s,” one Republican operative said. Another: It would be “a rerun of ‘The Golden Girls’.”
Democrats could reply that Ronald Reagan was 69 and popular with young voters when he was elected President. Or maybe not, given rumors that his faculties diminished during his second term.
Playing the age card in politics is unpredictable. When questions were raised about Reagan’s age in 1984, he used them to demolish Walter Mondale in a debate – settling the issue and the election.
But a smart, subtle independent campaign worked against Senator Elizabeth Dole in 2008. The ads never said: “She’s too old.” They noted instead that she had been in Washington a loooooooong time. Of course, anybody married to Bob Dole had to be old.
Do young voters want a young candidate? Could Paul Ryan or Rand Paul appeal to voters who don’t like Republican positions on women’s rights, immigration, college loans, gay marriage, voter ID, education cuts, etc., etc.?
Age itself probably won’t be the issue. The question is whether Clinton looks like a blast from the past or a fresh voice for the future.
She has enormous potential as a candidate. She could expand the Obama coalition – and the electoral map. She could do even better than he did with a key swing vote: suburban women.
But she ran a terrible campaign in 2008. It was arrogant, unfocused and riven with internal conflict. She’ll have to do better this time.
That will determine whether her age – and experience – work for her, or against her.