John McCain may have hit upon a fun way to combat the idea that he's too old at 71 — he's bringing his mother Roberta McCain, a healthy 95-year old, out on the campaign trail.

"It's a thrill for me to be invited to tag along," said the elder McCain to a South Carolina retirement community, before her son gave a speech about the problems facing Social Security and Medicare.

McCain has previously joked about bringing his mother along in order to demonstrate his good genes. And it turns out that somebody — whether it was himself, his mother, another family member, or a staffer — realized it might actually be a pretty good idea.