At first blush, Panetta speaking at all is always a cue that he is speaking with the Clintons interests in mind.
Then someone suggests Panetta might want to run himself. That never occurred to me, but he is certainly experienced enough, very prepared for the political price and imagine the goods he has on everyone in DC, and the grifters from Arkansas included, even Chelsea pooh.
He was born in 1938. That makes him 75 now. On inauguration day he will be 78 and he'll be 82 at the end of his first term, if he lives that long. He doesn't look healthy right now.
Reagan was just short of 70 when first inaugurated.