Earlier this week, Barack Obama promised that he would sharpen his attacks on John McCain in response to panicking Democrats watching their gimme election vanishing before their eyes.  Instead of coming up with something new, Team Obama has decided to go with an old attack — by calling McCain old.  Two days ago, they tried it with the blindingly stupid e-mail ad, and today they’ve apparently farmed the theme out to their surrogates:

On This Week with George Stephanopoulos this morning, Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo., a surrogate for the campaign of Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., raised the age and health of Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., when discussing the qualifications, or lack thereof, of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin.

McCaskill said she stood by her remarks that she’s “uncomfortable with anyone, regardless of gender, that is going to be vice president to one of the oldest presidents we’ve ever had that has never met a world leader.”

When Stephanopoulos asked her it was fair to raise McCain’s age, McCaskill doubled-down and mentioned his past skin cancer, saying, “I think what we’re talking about is a reality. Other people talk about his melanoma.  We’re talking about a reality here that we have to face.  This is someone who’s going to be one heartbeat away from the presidency.  All of us know it.  I just think that it’s the facts, George, and that’s something that we need to start focusing on, are the facts, instead of distortions and lies.”

Is age an issue in a presidential candidate?  It could be, but McCain is hardly decrepit.  His physical disabilities have nothing to do with his age, and his mind is as sharp as ever.  In looking at both men, McCain seems to be thriving, while Obama seems to have aged years in the past few months.  McCain’s 72 is a lot different than 72 would have been even 24 years ago, when the nation re-elected a 73-year-old Ronald Reagan to a second term.

While it’s not an illegitimate question, it’s not new, either.  Voters have known about McCain’s age all through the electoral cycle, and he answered the medical questions in May when he released his medical records — something Obama has yet to do.  His prognosis is excellent, and doctors pronounced him in fine shape, which certainly didn’t appear to shock his 96-year-old mother.

This smacks of desperation by Team Obama.  They should have learned their lesson when they botched the e-mail ad.  It makes them look like they’ve run out of arguments and have to go back to the ones that flopped on their first attempt.