McCain in the Minority: Peers Are on the Web

73% of white college grads over 65 are plugged in
By Sam Biddle,  Newser Staff
Posted Jul 21, 2008 5:14 AM CDT
McCain in the Minority: Peers Are on the Web
Republican presidential candidate Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., talks on his cell phone as his campaign plane sits on the tarmac in Romulus, Mich.,Friday, July 18, 2008.    (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

John McCain may be a Luddite when it comes to the internet—the 71-year-old candidate confesses that he relies on his wife and aides to do his browsing for him—but most of his peers are computer savvy, AP reports. While only 35% of Americans over age 65 are online,  three-quarters of white, college-educated American men over the age of 65 routinely use the internet, according to a survey by the Pew Research Center.

"McCain is an outlier when you compare him to his peers," said a Pew spokesman. "On one hand, a US senator has access to staff assistance that most people do not. On the other, the internet has become such a go-to resource that it's a curiosity to hear that someone doesn't rely on it the way most Americans do." A McCain spokeswoman insisted that the candidate is "fully capable" of surfing the internet. (More John McCain stories.)

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