“Senator McCain.... which do you prefer? Mac or PC?”
“Neither... I am... a illiterate that has to rely on my wife for all of the assistance that I can get.”
Thank you Mr. Republican Presidential Nominee for reminding us of, um, your age!!
We are told not to worry about McCain's health, and we now know better than to call him confused, but the generational divide between John McCain and the youth of this country cannot be ignored.
I am getting emails from my 82-year old Grandpa these days. He can open my messages, write replies and even use IM from time to time. But if these are all radical concepts to Mr. McCain, how can we expect him to make adequate judgments on subjects such as software piracy? net neutrality? privacy issues arising from the street view of Google earth? sexual harassment cases on social networking sites? or even the regulation and sharing of our government's technological innovations?
I mean he must at least grasp the main trends as they evolve online? Doesn't he?
While at the Personal Democracy Forum earlier this week Mark Soohoo of McCain's Internet team tried to clear things up, when he explained, “John McCain is aware of the Internet.”
Former Edwards blogger Tracy Russo was also unconvinced. She came back on the attack – questioning McCain's readiness to lead in the 21st century with the increasing role technology must take in governance and the future of global leadership.
While I'm not convinced that having a techie in the White House is crucial to the future success of our country, Tracy raises the most important question pertaining to the relationship between McCain's age and his leadership ability. Anyone might be tired at the end of a long day, but if your president cannot incorporate technology and its rapidly changing landscape into his or her governing philosophy then our government's status as a leader in technological advancement and the benefits that come with it will quickly erode.