Candidates should not be required to make health public

With the election looming on the horizon, everything appears to be fair game when it comes to the presidential candidates and their running mates. Not even their families have been spared from the political nitpicking of the media. With the personal life of Barack Obama, John McCain, Joe Biden and Sarah Palin in the spotlight 24/7 as they race for the highest public office in the world, is it really necessary to expose every medical detail about them as well?

Perhaps it isn’t, that is unless details about McCain’s buttocks being “unremarkable except for some very light tan freckling” is of some voyeuristic interest to the public. In May, McCain appeased the concerned population by releasing nearly 2,000 pages of medical disclosure that detailed his battle with melanoma. This variety of skin cancer can be deadly if it spreads to other organs, but McCain had it completely removed in 2000.

But McCain isn’t the only one running for office with some flaws in his medical background. Obama has had the politically incorrect addiction to smoking, which can lead to blood clots, cancer, coronary artery disease and high blood pressure. It is a good thing that Obama’s doctor wrote and released a brief letter outlining all of his medical history. The letter included the statement that Obama is “lean and muscular with no excess body fat.” Well, we should all feel better about voting for Barack Obama now.

Parts of Biden’s medical history have floated to the surface of the media as well. He suffered from a brain aneurysm in 1988 which nearly killed him, but it was corrected successfully. His doctor has gone on record saying that Biden is “highly unlikely” to ever have those problems again. Palin has yet to release any medical records, though she promised to release them sometime before the election.

Sure, there is no need to consider privacy in these matters – the medical records of the candidates will only be released to and scrutinized by every news outlet in the entire country. As with any rigorous job, the candidates must be judged on the quality of their character and work ethic, not on the state of their medical history.

Dissent

If any person wants to run for public office, he or she must reveal any and all medical documents. This is of the utmost importance to voters. Medical disclosure provides cold and scientific data about candidates.

An examination of medical documents could reveal past drug abuse, sexual behavior and life expectancy. All of these things matter to voters.

If a citizen wants to become a public official, logically he or she should be completely public about every facet of his or her life. When Americans elect an official, they elect a person who is on duty 24/7. This includes the time an official spends popping pills, snorting coke, smoking pot and making babies. All of these things are nicely revealed in medical documents. So, full disclosure for the presidential candidates!

Maybe then the American public will learn all about all of those dirty little rumors.

Yahya Chaudhry