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Nauseating Ads Exploit One Candidate's Health

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The Tampa Tribune

Published: October 20, 2008

If he wins in November, John McCain would be the oldest president to start a first term. Public curiosity about his vitality is, well, healthy.

Voters have a right to ask about the general physical and mental condition of anyone they're considering hiring for the nation's toughest job. How much a candidate reveals should remain the candidate's choice.

Health is a legitimate issue that can easily be turned into distasteful exaggerations, as several recent anti-McCain advertisements make clear.

MSNBC ran an ad that said, "John McCain is 72 years old and had cancer four times. Why won't McCain release his medical records?"

The ad is deceptive and is no longer running. Actually, McCain did release 1,173 pages of his medical files earlier this year to a small group of reporters. They were allowed to inspect the documents for a few hours but were prohibited from reproducing any of the papers.

They found out a lot more about McCain's medicines and conditions, including his bouts with arthritis, than has been disclosed about any other candidate. Barack Obama released only an abbreviated doctor's statement saying he is the picture of health.

The focus is entirely on McCain. The California Nurses Association has produced an ad that shows an EKG of a heartbeat while a voice sings, "one heartbeat away." Then a picture of Sarah Palin appears, along with a list of scathing criticisms of McCain's running mate.

With health so big an issue this year, some political observers are calling for a standardized medical test for all the candidates for president and vice president. It could be administered by government-approved doctors, much like the medical exams long required for airplane pilots.

Such a test is unnecessary and would not settle medical uncertainties. Remember, the president is not a pilot flying the ship of state. It's office work with top medical care always nearby.

An even worse idea than a standardized exam comes from some Democrats who call on McCain to open his entire medical history.

Running for office should not strip a candidate of all personal privacy. Full disclosure would put so much in the public realm that it would discourage many healthy, qualified people from running.

It is easy to imagine, for example, what the negative advertisers would do with issues of sexual health.

The Constitution is wisely minimal in its list of the qualifications for president. To run, a person must be a natural born citizen at least 35 years old and must have lived in the United States at least 14 years. It doesn't require the candidate to have a doctor's note or be able to run three miles.

If a candidate is being treated for cancer or coming down with Alzheimer's disease, it would be impossible to keep that a secret on the long campaign trail.

Let's not become hypochondriacs, comparing candidates' blood pressures and prescription medicines and imagining the worst. The public has a right to have its finger on a candidate's pulse, not to review every prostate exam or Pap smear. There is a difference.

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