HILLARY'S BRAINS, RYAN'S ABS

Which Hillary will we see in October 2016?

For what it's worth, Hillary Clinton's interview on NPR this morning was so impressive that I'm now thinking that she could absolutely devour any Republican who runs against her in 2016. She's damn smart and articulate, as we already know, and she simply and eloquently swatted away all questions about things like Benghazi, Bergdahl, and the supposed failure of U.S. leadership in the world.

I'm still worried about her stamina on the campaign trail, however. This has nothing to do with her being female or with Fox News' rumors about her brain health. It has to do with her turning 69 years old in 2016. I am now 68 years old and in rather good physical condition (three hours of singles tennis? no problem!), but there is no way I could survive a presidential campaign. Only Reagan was older than 68 when he ran, and he was held together by make-up, hair gel and 3X5 notecards; we also now have a pretty good idea what happened to his brain while he was in office.

Picture of a presidential candidate held together with make-up and hair gel.

I keep imagining a hoarse, pale, hollow-eyed Hillary up against a young, studly, gleaming Paul Ryan in the October 2016 debates. Specifically, I imagine Ryan getting on the floor and doing push-ups and ab crunches while Hillary croaks on intelligently about NATO and Ukraine. Not a pretty picture. And if Americans judge male candidates by their looks, imagine how much more harshly they'll judge a female candidate.

Will Americans prefer Hillary or this guy in 2016?

Still, Hillary was terrific this morning, so I shall, for the time being, be optimistic about her chances.