ISSUE: McCain's age, Obama’s race

OUR VIEW: Both will be issues, with question being how much for the same individual

Barack Obama says he won’t make John McCain’s age an issue.

John McCain says he won’t make Barack Obama’s race an issue.

Both will be issues -- and are issues whether either is ever mentioned on the campaign trail.

John McCain would be 72 years old when elected president. That would make him the oldest man elected to the office.

Obama’s surrogates and the media are quick to pounce on anything that makes McCain look elderly: a misstatement, a stumble, the look of a bad day.

And they don’t have to work hard to make Americans get the point.

Just this past week, Americans were told with headlines that their life expectancy has reached an all-time high -- of 78 years. Of course many people live much longer and McCain can say he is a candidate to be among them since a prime factor is reduction in deaths from heart disease, cancer and diabetes. Skin cancer has plagued McCain, but otherwise has been pronounced a healthy man in his 70s.

But he IS a white male in his 70s. White women average 81 years of age but white males’ lifespan is 76. No wonder there is mention of McCain having a young running mate. He would be 76 at the end of a first term.

As for Obama, he will face the issue of race more and more. In the Democratic primaries, particularly those outside the South, people have told the media they do not see Obama as an African-American but rather as a young, liberal Democrat on the order of a John Kennedy.

In the South, race is an issue, cutting both ways. There is skepticism as to whether conservative white Southerners will support a black man. And even African-American leaders acknowledge that many blacks will turn out to vote for Obama because he is African-American.

The question for Obama will be whether race is an issue elsewhere -- and most notably in key swing states such as Pennsylvania, Florida, Ohio and Michigan with large numbers of white, working-class voters.

The Associated Press tells the story of Joyce Susick of Greensburg, Pa. A white woman and registered Democrat, she is eager to replace George W. Bush. But not with Obama.

“I don’t think our country is ready for a black president,” Susick said during an interview in the paint store where she works. “A black man is never going to win Pennsylvania.”

Susick said her personal objection to Obama is his inexperience, not his color. “It has nothing to do with race,” she said.

But it just may, representing a big hurdle for Obama. Democrats have carried Pennsylvania in the last four presidential contests, and Obama would have to offset a loss of its 21 electoral votes by taking Republican-leaning states from John McCain.

Setbacks in the four swing states would doom the Obama campaign and lift McCain.

The wild card is how much the issue of race and age are factors for the same individual. If they are, the result may be a choice not to vote. If that happens wholesale, bets are off on the outcome.

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