In 2008, many who had expressed support for the presidential candidacy of John McCain changed their minds with the announcement of the governor of Alaska, Sarah Palin, as his running mate. They reasoned that McCain, 72, was too old, with a history of cancer, and that Palin was not up to assuming the presidency in the not unlikely event he became sick or died in office. Barack Obama's campaign chided McCain for putting an obscure, former small-town mayor “a heartbeat away from the presidency.” Of course, McCain lived another ten years and would have completed two terms in office had he been elected and then re-elected.
