Todd Beeton at MyDD notes a change in coverage.
…while McCain has played his age for humor, the media has largely considered connecting McCain’s gaffes and his age taboo. The sheer volume and frequency of McCain’s errors may have rendered that deference obsolete.
Cue The Politico, which in a piece today finally addresses the elephant in the room, as it were, vis a vis McCain’s numerous confusions.
Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) said “Iraq” on Monday when he apparently meant “Afghanistan”, adding to a string of mixed-up word choices that is giving ammunition to the opposition.
Just in the past three weeks, McCain has also mistaken “Somalia” for “Sudan,” and even football’s Green Bay Packers for the Pittsburgh Steelers.Ironically, the errors have been concentrated in what should be his area of expertise: foreign affairs.
And then Mike Allen and Jim Vandehai go there:
McCain will turn 72 the day after Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) accepts his party’s nomination for president at the age of 47, calling new attention to the sensitive issue of McCain’s advanced age three days before the start of his own convention. […]
McCain’s mistakes raise a serious, if uncomfortable question: Are the gaffes the result of his age? And what could that mean in the Oval Office?
McCain supporters can either say, “No, he is not too old” or they can allow that he is old, but that McCain will be surrounded by sensible people.
Gee…Where have I heard that before?