Dear GOP, Here's Why Hillary's Age Is Just a Number

A New York Times piece about a new Republican anti-Hillary strategy is blowing up the Interwebs. At this point, said brilliant strategy seems to primarily involve pointing out that the 65-year-old Hillary Clinton is too old.

The piece highlights a number of quotes from GOP politicians and thinkers. The most blatantly offensive comments come from (surprise!) radio host Rush Limbaugh, who in April asked his audience whether the American people “want to vote for somebody, a woman, and actually watch a woman get older before their eyes on a daily basis?”

Because the 76-year-old John McCain is super hot.

Other Republicans had a more nuanced way of making the 'too old' argument.

“Perhaps in the Democratic primary and certainly in the general election, there’s going to be an argument that the time for a change of leadership has come,” said Republican strategist Karl Rove. “The idea that we’re at the end of her generation and that it’s time for another to step forward is certainly going to be compelling.”

“The youth are attracted to people who don’t want to lock them up and throw away the key for marijuana,” Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) said. “In some ways, the older Democrats have become more staid and status-quo-like than some of us Republicans.”

Except that's not true. If attracting the youth vote is the goal, Republicans are going to have to do some serious reflecting and put forward strategy that is eons more nuanced than pointing out Clinton's age.

Young voters don't care about a candidate's age. We care about marriage equality, the state of climate change, and closing down Guantanamo.

As long as members of the Grand Old Party continue to pass legislation that limits women's reproductive rights, caters to gun lobbies (against the will of the vast majority), and creates discriminatory voter ID laws, it will not win over young voters. Trying to cast Clinton as old is a bit of a joke, because current Republican legislation on both federal and state levels actively works to regress us to ancient times.

Age is just a number. What matters to young voters is a desire for progress.