IS DOLE TOO OLD?

Senate Majority Leader Bob Dole, who would be the oldest president ever to assume the office if elected next year, has launched a pre-emptive strike on younger rivals who just can’t resist sniping at his age. The GOP frontrunner’s campaign has released a medical report that says he’s in excellent shape for a man who will turn 72 Saturday — with clear lungs and a normal heart and pulse, with good blood pressure and cholesterol kept in a normal range by medication. But is that enough? “Dole and his campaign are trying to be aggressive and proactive about a problem that doesn’t really exist now but might flare up on them later,” saysTIME’s Michael Duffy. “By laying the predicate of candor and disclosure now, they not only take the issue off the table, they force other candidates to play at their level of openness. We’ll see a lot of hematology charts flying over faxes in the next few weeks.”