How much is age an issue?

[Likely Voter]

Today, sadly, former Senator Fred Thompson passed away. He was 73, so when he ran for president he was 65. Thompson was once considered a front-runner, in October 2007 he was leading in the national GOP polls. In theory, if Thompson was elected and re-elected president he may not have finished two terms.

For this campaign the two top candidates in both parties (Clinton, Sanders, Trump and Carson) are older or about the same as Thompson was in 2007. Could this death bring age and/or health into the debate about the race? Certainly O'Malley and Rubio have been making the case that they are of a 'new generation' of leaders.

Here is a full list of candidate ages...
Sanders   72
Pataki   70
Trump   69
Clinton   68
Gilmore   66
Carson   64
Kasich   63
Bush   62
Fiorina   61
Graham   60
Huckabee   60
Santorum   57
Paul   52
O'Malley   52
Christie   52   
Rubio   44
Jindal   44
Cruz   44

[○∙◄☻¥tπ[╪AV┼cVê└]

Fred Thompson made even Ben Carson look high energy.

[Nyvin]

Just make sure the old ones pick a young and good VP.

[Unconditional Surrender Truman]

I could well see Rubio using age as an attack against Clinton or Sanders should he win the nomination. In the end, though, I doubt it will make much difference.

[I support Sanders]

That is sad news. My dad was a huge Fred Thompson supporter during the 2007 Republican primaries, and ended up writing in Thompson's name in 2008. To answer your question, health is an important factor to consider. Former Ohio Representative Dennis Kucinich, for example, is 69 years old, and has been a vegan for 20 years, and looks youthful for his age. Bill Clinton has also been vegan for the past few years, but he looks much older than his age.

I think an ideal ticket would include an experienced, qualified older candidate, and a younger, less-experienced but equally-qualified candidate who can use the Vice Presidency to learn and gain experience. Sanders/O'Malley and Kasich/Rubio would be good tickets for this reason. That is also the reason why I don't think Rubio/Kasich would make much sense, and why I never thought Obama/Biden made much sense (Obama is 54, while Biden is 73, Thompson's age).

[Pyro]

I could well see Rubio using age as an attack against Clinton or Sanders should he win the nomination. In the end, though, I doubt it will make much difference.

I would hope that Sanders, especially, would counter it as Reagan had.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LoPu1UIBkBc

[dudeabides]

Let me first of all say that it is tragic that we lost Fred Thompson. He had a wife, children including two young children, and grandchildren in addition to siblings and other relatives. He was a good actor, I'm a Law & Order fan. He was a decent person who cared about people.

I think the age issue depends on the individual. In Donald Trump's case, he is already ill mentally, so he will probably become more senile as time goes on. George H.W. Bush left office at the age of 69. Had he won re-election, he would have left office at the age of 73. I think ideally, having a President over 73 years old is not a good thing because of the stress of the job. So my rule of thumb is once someone is older than 65 or 67, we should consider their health and how well they have aged.

[Coolface Sock #42069]

The big issue to me is that the presidency ages you very quickly. Look at an old picture of Senator Barack Obama from Illinois in 2006 or 2007 versus what he looks like now. I'd be very concerned about a president starting the job at 70 or older. If I was around for Reagan, I'd have been quite worried about him (I was born during HW Bush's first year).

Public life has clearly aged Clinton, but Sanders still looks fairly good for his age, as does Carson. That would change after a term in the White House.

Any of these older candidates would do well to pick a young VP candidate. For the GOP, they have a bevy of young candidates for the job, but for Democrats, Brian Schatz would be a good choice. Yes, he's from Hawaii, but VP candidates don't flip states anyway, and he would represent the new generation of liberalism in a party that desperately needs that type of face. And no worries about his seat going red in a special. Colleen Hanabusa and Tulsi Gabbard would go at it in the primary with the winner coasting in the general.

[Absentee Voting Ghost of Ruin]

I could well see Rubio using age as an attack against Clinton or Sanders should he win the nomination. In the end, though, I doubt it will make much difference.

Absent other signs of health problems, I doubt age will be an issue. Rubio trying to use it as an attack would be foolish for many reasons, including Reagan's famous response to the issue.

[Mr. Morden]

Not voting for any candidates in their 70s or even mid-late 60s, as I apply a strict "half plus seven" rule on presidential candidates.  Voting for a candidate that much older than me would be creepy.

[Lexii, harbinger of chaos and sexual anarchy]

Not voting for any candidates in their 70s or even mid-late 60s, as I apply a strict "half plus seven" rule on presidential candidates.  Voting for a candidate that much older than me would be creepy.

But.. but.. there aren't  enough 18 yo camdidates😢

[Likely Voter]

Let me first of all say that it is tragic that we lost Fred Thompson. He had a wife, children including two young children, and grandchildren in addition to siblings and other relatives. He was a good actor, I'm a Law & Order fan. He was a decent person who cared about people.

I think the age issue depends on the individual. In Donald Trump's case, he is already ill mentally, so he will probably become more senile as time goes on. George H.W. Bush left office at the age of 69. Had he won re-election, he would have left office at the age of 73. I think ideally, having a President over 73 years old is not a good thing because of the stress of the job. So my rule of thumb is once someone is older than 65 or 67, we should consider their health and how well they have aged.

That started out classy, and then went in a whole other direction real fast

[Vega]

Fred Thompson made even Ben Carson look high energy.

Not the right time

And it seems unique to America among Western democracies that contenders for the highest office in the land are so consistently elder.