From The Editor: Ever since John McCain announced Sarah Palin as his running mate last Friday, I keep hearing the same message: "Do we want Palin a heartbeat away from the presidency?" While no one's implicitly saying "McCain's an old man and could drop at any second," the subtext is definitely there. None of us wanted race, gender or age to be a political pivot this electoral season, but that "heartbeat" speak seems to hinge on McCain's 72-years. I'm not McCain's biggest fan, nor do I necessarily think age doesn't matter, but this meme makes me uncomfortable. Am I alone?

"European Union citizens would prefer to elect a gay leader than have one they consider too old, a study released in Brussels has revealed. According to the Eurobarometer study of 27,000 EU citizens across the bloc, just 17 per cent of Europeans would be totally comfortable with someone over the age of 75 in their country's highest elected post. That is less than half than the 36 per cent who would be at ease with a homosexual leader…" [The Age]