When it comes to his health, John McCain asks voters to be gamblers. Over the last couple of weeks we have watched the implosion of John McCain's Vice Presidential choice, Alaska Governor Sarah Palin.
Her performance has left even right wing pundits concerned about her capacity to assume the Presidency, and because McCain would be the oldest individual ever to take office, and has had four bouts with Melanoma, a very aggressive form of skin cancer, there is every reason to believe that indeed she has a very real possibility of becoming President.
Now I don't want to be unfair because I recognize there are millions of Americans who are cancer survivors, I have family and friends who are survivors, but I also know how insidious this disease can be and those millions are not running for the most powerful office in the land. So follow me over the fold to understand how and why this must become a part of the political dialog before this campaign concludes.
McCain's campaign has punted on the health issue by "allowing" medical experts to see his medical records, but as described by CNN Medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta, this vetting of his medical history was less than thorough.
"We were given three hours to go over 1,200 pages of records. That is a lot to go through. It was very sort of cloak and dagger and I'm sure they had their reasons. Given that I had my medical training, I was able to hone in on what it thought was important more quickly. But the pages weren't numbered, so I had no way of knowing what was missing... As a reporter I can only comment on what I saw but I can't say by any means that this was complete... As far as the secretiveness of it, what they said to us is that you can't take anything out of the room, but you could make notes. So it was a lot to go through in a short period of time."
In fact this limited number of experts were given a paltry three hours to review over 1200 pages of documents. They were not allowed copies or to use cell phones or emails to consult on the meaning of much or the information in the documents. To be blunt, no matter how healthy John McCain might or might not be, the three hour review was, to say the least, insufficient. Additionally, the records that were reviewed only covered the past eight years of McCain's life. There are many experts that have questions regarding his health and Brave New Films explores these questions in this very good video. I am sending a link to it to family and friends and I might suggest others do the same.
Once again the corporate media have betrayed us by allowing the McCain campaign to bully them into silence on this important issue. The way they are acting gives one reason to believe that they must be hiding something or else he'd have opened up about things by now. What are they hiding, that his health is far more grave than indicated by them and that he may have less than a 50% chance of surviving a single 4-year term? If indeed this is the case, a vote for him is actually a vote for Sarah Palin.
Of course this wouldn't be as serious a concern if his Vice Presidential choice had the gravitas or even the basic skills to assume the job he is seeking. Fact is, there are few in this country who doubt Senator Joe Biden's qualifications to assume the office of the Presidency and assure the nation and the world that he is both capable and qualified for the job. The public and the pundits are not so certain regarding Gov. Palin.
September 24 WSJ/NBC Poll
Forty-nine percent say that Palin is unqualified to be president if the need arises, compared with 40 percent who say she's qualified.
By contrast, 64 percent believe Biden is qualified to be president, versus just 21 percent who disagree.
The McCain campaign can do whatever they wish regarding the full disclosure of the Senators medical records, but by the same token if they are not going to be transparent and open regarding the health of a 72 year old cancer survivor, we as voters have the right to publicly question their decision and even make it a campaign issue.
I recall in 1992, I was a Paul Tsongas supporter. He was certain he was in good health and had beaten his cancer. His campaign as I recall was very open and transparent regarding his medical history and I do not doubt his sincerity, but the fact remains that had he been elected, he would not have finished a second term and would have been incapacitated a some point in his Presidency.
It is not unreasonable to consider McCain's health when he is asking American voters to elect him to the highest office in the land. In fact I would suggest it is essentially patriotic.