Politics And Illness

Less than five weeks remain before mid-term elections.

It used to be the case that voters saw only the sanitized public face of candidates and public officials. These days, that's no longer enough. Now journalists and voters want to know everything about them, including their medical histories.

To tell the truth, it has become the rule rather than the exception to report on a politician's medical problem, Correspondent Bill Plante explains on The Early Show.

"Some of you have inquired as to why my hand has been shaking," said former Attorney General Janet Reno at a past press conference, revealing her Parkinson's disease.

Vice President Cheney's heart trouble and Sen. John McCain's battle with melanoma have also been front-page news.

Even fictional President Bartlett of television's "The West Wing" on NBC is grappling with the dillema of disclosing his own multiple sclerosis.

Bill Bradbury, the Democrats' candidate for the U.S. Senate from Oregon, was diagnosed with M.S. in 1980. For a while, as a state legislator, he kept his condition quiet until, he said, "I walked and had sort of a waddle as I walked and basically everybody thought that I was drunk and I decided right then and there that it was much more effective to tell people that I had a disability called multiple sclerosis rather than to think that I was drunk."

Campaign strategists say that Bradbury made the right call.

"If you're a candidate that has a problem, you should be open about it — disability or disease," said camgaign strategist Peter Fenn. "If you're opposing a candidate who happens to have a disability, the worst thing you can do is attack him or mention it."

Before television and the 24-hour news cycle, it was easy to hid disabilities. Most Americans weren't even aware of Franklin Roosevelt's paralysis or John F. Kennedy's Addison's disease.

"In the case of Franklin Deleano Roosevelt, here was a man who was paralyzed by polio. Boy, he sure didn't have any trouble serving as President of the United States," said Fenn.

Bradbury said, "As you're very honest about it and as you then proceed to talk about the other issues that really matter to people like Social Security and Medicare, those kind of issues, they really realize ,'No, there's nothing to prevent this person from serving the people effectively.'"

But for some voters, health questions are hard to ignore. Janet Reno ended up losing in the primary for the Florida governor's race, and her health may have played a part.

The White House likes to make a big deal over the presidents perfect health. He repeatedly ranks in the top one percent for men his age. But, even good health has its pitfalls. Remember when the President passed out after choking on a pretzel? Doctors blamed that on his very healthy slow heart rate.