Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean hosted a press briefing yesterday to go over some new polling data from 17 swing states, and mentioned that the party would probably not go after John McCain’s age as a campaign issue.

Noting that it’s the kind of personal tactic Republicans would be far more comfortable with, Dean said, “I doubt we will bring it up in the election." He added, “There is somewhat of a higher ethical bar on what we do. We don’t have any Lee Atwaters or Karl Roves on our side.”

That's true. But, McCain is running to be the oldest president in U.S. history, and if Dems did want to make an issue out of it, voters apparently care quite a bit about this.

The age question may be this year’s sleeper issue. Stay tuned.