The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee says it is not playing the age card.

In an e-mail to Dome, spokesman Matthew Miller said that a new TV ad featuring two old men in rocking chairs talking about whether U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Dole is "93" or "92" is not intended to remind voters of the Republican senator's age.

"It's not that Elizabeth Dole is too old, it's that after 40 years in Washington she's too ineffective," he writes. "Dole should remember her own words from two years ago, when she said that voters should elect a candidate with 'fresh leadership' over one who'd been in government for 40 years."

Miller was referring to Dole's Nov. 5, 2006, appearance on "Meet the Press," when she argued that Maryland voters should support Lt. Gov. Michael Steele over the Democrat, a longtime Congressman.

"You look in Maryland and you’ve got a fresh leadership here in Michael Steele in terms of wanting to really shake up Washington," she said, according to an official transcript. "And his opponent, Ben Cardin, has been in government for 40 years."

Correction: An earlier version of the post misstated the Maryland opponent's position. 

How far has John Edwards' political stock fallen?

Only a few months ago, he was a contender for the Democratic presidential nomination, a former vice presidential nominee and a former North Carolina senator.

On Friday, he admitted to being unfaithful to his wife.

And on the Sunday morning talk shows, he was hardly even a topic of consideration.

On "Fox News Sunday," the host grilled John McCain's campaign manager about his energy plan, on "Meet the Press" Tom Brokaw put the Treasury secretary on the spot about the mortgage crisis, and "Inside Washington" covered a range of non-Edwards-related issues.

In previews of the show, only "Meet the Press" mentioned that it will talk about Edwards — at the very end of the show.

That's the spot on local news usually reserved for the waterskiing squirrel segment.

Update: In the middle of an extended riff on how much time should be spent on the Clintons at the Democratic convention, "Inside Washington" pundit Mark Shields briefly touched on Edwards.

"John Edwards is a separate case altogether," he said, then moved on.

Second Update: On "Fox News Sunday," Democratic Illinois Sen. Dick Durbin said that the Edwards' affair had a "quantum difference" from the Congressional interns scandal.

He was asked if if Barack Obama would consider Edwards for vice president.

"I have no idea. I've not spoken to him about that," he said. "As you're aware, Senator Edwards announced through one of his staffers he would not be attending the convention in Denver."

Third Update: The dean of the Washington press corps dismissed Edwards' political future on "Meet the Press."

David Broder said he never thought there was any likelihood that Edwards would be the vice presidential nominee again, but he worried the revelation would hurt the next president's ability to ask the American people to sacrifice.

"He's not really very important in American politics right now, but I'm afraid this will just deepen the cynicism that the American people feel towards politicians and politics," he said.

Meantime, Wall Street Journal editorial page editor Paul Gigot, no fan of liberals, congratulated the Democratic electorate on "their wisdom" in not nominating Edwards, saying the party would be in "desperate straits" right now if it had.

Washington Post columnist E.J. Dionne agreed, saying that there would be talk of an open convention, with Edwards delegates rebelling, if he had won the nomination and the affair came out.

With the news of Tim Russert's death today, there has been much talk about how he put politicians on the spot during interviews.

One such occasion was in May 2002, when Russert interviewed then-U.S. Sen. John Edwards of North Carolina.

By some accounts, Edwards did not fare well. Conservative columnist Robert Novak said at the time that Edwards "withered under Tim Russert's grilling."

It was more than a year before Edwards appeared again on the show - some said it was because he received such poor reviews the first time. But Edwards, by most accounts, fared better the second time around.

David Axelrod, Edwards' media strategist at the time, said Edwards' second interview with Russert was "a benchmark of his evolution as a candidate."

The transcript of the 2002 interview after the jump.

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John Edwards said he is the candidate for change.

In an appearance on NBC's "Meet the Press," the former North Carolina senator criticized Democratic frontrunner Sen. Hillary Clinton, saying she is part of the Washington establishment.

"I believe we cannot replace a group of corporate Republicans with a group of corporate Democrats," he said.

He also said he would draw down troops in Iraq, keeping only a small number to protect the U.S. Embassy and maintain "quick reaction forces" in Kuwait.

And he claimed that he would be the strongest Democratic candidate in red states. (N&O)