What about the old guy?

Every time I see a news item on Barack or Hilary, I keep wondering what the election will reveal about the two candidates that we don't already know. It just feelslike one of them is a candidate the general voting population wants. Then there's "Pastorgate" for Barack (in the form of Rev. Wright) and "Snipergate" for Hilary (in the form of being outed by none other than the "comedian", Sinbad, no less!) that clouds the positions the two candidates take. But how about McCain? He had an alleged relationship with a lobbyist, but what else is out there? Can he beat either of the Dems? Is he just too damn old looking? I mean, I wouldn't use that as a pre-requisite for my vote, but it's hard to get past his appearance sometimes. I wonder if when people are in the privacy of that booth, what will compel them to pull--or not pull--the trigger on a certain candidate. Will age, race or gender play a role? Anyone who doesn't think so is fooling themselves. Maybe it will all come down to which running mate is chosen to assuage the fears of the voters to the shortcomings they feel for a particular candidate.