Age, age, age! At the beginning of the campaign trail it was all that anyone could talk about. Was John McCain healthy enough? Was he to old? What if something happened to him in office, like a fifth time around with skin cancer? Can America handle a president who is more than likely to get sick while in office? These questions and others like it have been around during the entire campaign but have started to die down, as other issues are being brought up. Sarah Palin being appointed by John McCain as Vice President Candidate also distracted Americas and reporters away from this issue.
If John McCain wins on November 4th at 72 he will be the oldest man to begin his first term. While some say good for him, others worry about the four skin cancers McCain has had removed since 1993. One of the four kinds of cancer being melanoma, one of the worst kinds of skin cancer for anyone to have. McCain’s team did released his medical records, but under very strict conditions. McCain’s team gave reporters only three hours to look through the thousands of pages and did not allow any pictures or photocopies for his medical records.
“Last month, Sen. Claire McCaskill, a Missouri Democrat and a supporter of Democratic candidate Sen. Barack Obama, said McCain’s age and skin cancer history were fair game as a campaign issue. “We’re talking about a reality here that we have to face.” A few days ago, a liberal activist group, Brave New Films, ran a full-page ad in the New York Times, accompanied by a petition signed by more than 2,700 physicians calling on McCain to release his full medical records.”
Although Obama too has also been criticized for he has only released a one page summary from his doctor.
“McCain spokesman Tucker Bounds said it’s a double standard. “The arbiters of this election are not demanding the same level of disclosure about Sen. Obama. He’s essentially running on a doctor’s note. I had a harder time getting out of high school math class.””
Do you think someone should be president who has already had skin cancer four times, and has a high risk of getting it again? What is your opinion on Obama’s summary from his doctor of a medical record? Is John McCain just too unhealthy to be president of the United States?
http://www.cnn.com/2008/HEALTH/10/08/ftl.mccain.health/index.html
