You know how it is with senior citizens. They’re cranky, they get confused, they say things they haven’t fully thought through. Can we risk having people like that in positions of power?

On the other hand, they’re usually very generous towards the people they care about.

Murtha is 75, four years older than McCain. He says they are nearly the same age, and the rigors and stress of running the country is too much for guys their age.

“I’ve served with seven presidents,” Murtha told a union audience. “When they come in, they all make mistakes. They all get older.”

“This one guy running is about as old as me,” he said, drawing laughter and applause. “Let me tell you something, it’s no old man’s job.”…

“Watch me campaign. We keep a heavier schedule. We campaign harder,” [McCain] said Monday during The Associated Press annual meeting. “People will judge me by my performance. I am confident that my energy, my intellect, my experience, and my judgment is what American people will — hopefully that they will view me as qualified to be president of the United States.”

His campaign said Wednesday Murtha’s comments were “nonsense attacks.”

Are they? They’re absurd coming from Abscam Jack, who’ll be pushing 80 at the end of Maverick’s term, but notwithstanding Dean-o’s genuflection to political correctness in ruling the subject out of bounds, age is — potentially — relevant to competence. McCain’s got nothing to worry about, though; like he says, he’s as energetic a campaigner as either Democrat. The more time the left devotes to this issue, the more St. John gets to play on a field that favors of him. More, please.