Many Ohio voters believe the mission is simply the last-ditch effort of a guy with a bad voting record who wants again to be adored by the public. Many Republicans intimate that there is no one they would rather see blasted into space. Except more Democrats, that is. First, having already been in space, Glenn's training costs will be minimal. Second, as a retiring senator, the space agency wouldn't have to spend money to bring him back to Earth.
Many experts are skeptical about sending septuagenarians into space.
Suggesting that seniors are unlikely to drive the shuttle fast enough to achieve escape velocity, some worry that the shuttle would roam aimlessly through the air at 22 miles per hour, with a left-turn signal on and the belt from someone's coat caught in the door. Others are worried about the Glenn precedent, as the publicity stunt is coming to be known. With the Social Security program in trouble and seniors growing more numerous, the White House has every incentive to ship seniors into space. If Americans continue to retire at 65 but live until 165, the Social Security program will have to pay benefits longer than it can afford to, thus ensuring the program goes bankrupt within a generation. Someday soon, we may face public service announcements reminding citizens that, if the Social Security program is to live, it is the civic duty of all Americans to die on schedule.