Will McCain's senility affect his campaign?

[jcrew2001]

I have a suspicion that McCain is going senile and this will affect his campaign and his chances of the presidency. He has high name recognition and beats Hillary or Edwards in polls.

But I'm very worried that he is going senile and this will help Edwards or Hillary beat him. However, if he is elected president and his condition worsens, it will be worse than Reagan. At least Reagan waited until his re-election for his senility to worsen.

Do you guys think this will be a campaign issue? Will Edwards and Hillary have a fighting chance against him.

This country elected Bush twice, so I'm afraid that McCain might win.

[Benhurst]

1. Something strange seems to be going on with his face, and I

fear his cancer may be coming back. He may not be in good enough health to run a year from now.

As for Reagan, I heard an interview years ago with the head of the Reagan Library, and he was convinced after going over Reagan's diary that his Alzheimer's started shortly after he was shot, at the beginning of his FIRST term.

[aquart]

11. Never doubted that for a second.

[Buck Laser]

2. I worry about that...

McCain's years in captivity, coupled with the serious injuries he suffered and his current age certainly make it more likely that his health, both mental and physical, might deteriorate too much to enable him to serve his term. No ideological considerations affect this judgment.

But speaking ideologically, McCain's willingness to prostitute himself and his ideals to the foolishness of the religious right suggest that he's already around the bend.

[babylonsister]

3. I think McCain's support of this war has doomed him. nt

[Mz Pip]

4. After 6 years of Bush

McCain seems quite articulate in comparison. Wrong, but well spoken. Bush babbles his batshit insane policies. McCain is articulate enough to show us all how wrong they are.

Mz Pip
:dem:

[Mark E. Smith]

5. The Ancient McCain ...

... will not be gracing the ballot in 2008.

[jcrew2001]

6. i think

I think repubs will be stupid enough to elect the most recognizable "name" so McCain will be the Repub nominee.

His Iraq war policy only strengthens the case for senility.

[CTyankee]

27. I totally agree. He is not only going senile he LOOKS old and senile.

The LAST thing the American people will want is to elect a president who can't function. I am hoping someone will convince people around him that he should quietly go into the sunset and he goes home to be with his family who will care for him.

We're gonna need someone strong, wise and diligent in charge of this country come 2008. I just wonder if we can make it til then.

[Skittles]

7. I really haven't noticed, er, senility (sorry, is that Alzheimer's?)

I pay no attention to McCain after he whored for bush after bush inc trashed McCain's family in the primaries - that is just not forgivable to me.

[Cocoa]

8. it sucked when they did this to Murtha

both he and McCain are in full command of their cognitive abilities.

[eyesroll]

9. Bill Frist diagnosed Terri Schaivo via video. How did you come to your diagnosis?

:shrug:

And, while we're at it...why do male candidates get called by their last name but Sen. Clinton gets called "Hillary?" I don't think it's to avoid confusion with the former president, since he's obviously not running...hmm...

[jcrew2001]

15. i'm from new york

And Hillary's posters just say "Hillary" instead of Clinton.

Also, she was legally Hillary Rodham until a few years ago.

[Auntie Bush]

20. A few years ago? Make that about 12 +years.

Bush has been in office for six and Hillary dropped the Rodham early in Clinton's Presidency...which was another 8 years. My how time flies!

Damn typos!

[jcrew2001]

21. posters

anyways, her signs just say Hillary.

[LeftishBrit]

19. Males aren't always called by their last names, either

Bush is often called "Dubya"; and Gingrich "Newt", and over here we often refer to "Tony", "Gordon", "Dave" and "Ming" (the Merciless) as well as "Maggie".

I would suspect that the main reason that McCain is called by his surname is because his first name is "John", and he needs to be distinguished from all the hundreds of other Johns including Kerry and Edwards!

FTR, I don't know whether McCain is senile or just thick; i.e. whether to use the immortal words of Dan Quayle he has lost his mind or just doesn't have a mind. But I don't think he has the brains to be president, especially since he came here and expressed his desire to 'spread Republicanism around the globe'. But when did a lack of brains ever stop someone from being nominated by the Republicans?

[DU9598]

10. McCain = Bob Dole

It is his time in the Republican party. He has no agenda, he just wants to be president and it is his time to be nominated. He will lose (maybe to a Clinton) just like Bob Dole.

[jcrew2001]

18. his time to lose

Yes, it is his time....hahaha.

[CTyankee]

28. Remember the Bob Dole joke? Does Dole wear boxers or briefs?

Depends.

[TheFarseer]

35. I have to disagree

Dole was the head republican and McCain has always been a maverick. A better comparison would be to compare Frist to Dole.

[leesa]

12. Alzheimer's made Reagan a Superhero. Republican's don't require

full cognizance.

[ClassWarrior]

13. Three words...

"The McCain Doctrine."

NGU.

[madmunchie]

14. O.K. are you trying to start a rumor? OR do you have ANY facts

to back this up?

I just think McCain has sold out PERIOD I am not into starting rumors on anybody. Your post is very provoking with nothing to back it up.

I believe that McCain is going to lose because he supports this escalation and the escalation won't make things any better, but they are going to get worse and McCain will suffer because of it.

[jcrew2001]

16. My evidence

My evidence is the McCain Doctrine and his bush brain-washing.

[madmunchie]

30. That could be attributed to greed, soul-selling, stupidity...

by your measure Lieberman is senile to????

How about just plain evil????

[jwirr]

17. Probably not. The right like their politicians senile and stupid. More

nubile that way. Back stage government is their idea of good government.

[greatauntoftriplets]

22. Definition of the word "nubile".

I don't think you actually wanted to use this word.

nu·bile (nbl, -bl, ny-)
adj.
1. Ready for marriage; of a marriageable age or condition. Used of young women.
2. Sexually mature and attractive. Used of young women.

http://www.thefreedictionary.com/nubile

[jwirr]

31. Also used to mean easily molded.

[BlueIris]

23. McCain's not senile.

He's as mentally agile as any of his potential opponents--he's just a MUCH better actor than any of them.

[PretzelWarrior]

24. I think he's suffering from psychological issues

that have laid dormant for years. As a POW of N. Vietnamese, he seems to now have an irrational belief that adding a hundred thousand more troops is necessary to secure victory for our servicemen and women.

I believe he is mentally trying to save himself as he makes these policy stands but he is in effect repeating the same mistakes the leadership in the 60's made when they failed him and other soldiers, airmen, marines, etc.

[jcrew2001]

26. deer hunter

i wonder if he's seen the deer hunter, does he enjoy games of russian roulette when no ones looking.

[AtomicKitten]

25. The fact that he is a duplicitous POS will most certainly

affect his campaign. And the fact that he is fully into committing troops to WWIII might also put a dent in his support.

[Catchawave]

29. He's not senile....

However, he let down a lot of his base in the 2000 GOP primary season as the Poster Boy for the first successful swiftboating....to recap via BartCop...

http://www.bartcopnation.com/dc/dcboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=8&topic_id=522


He won't run.

[kskiska]

32. McCain is certainly a physical wreck

From this month's Vanity Fair article on McCain:
http://www.vanityfair.com/politics/features/2007/02/mccain200702

(snip)

…But he is visibly older, thinner, balder - and yes, frailer - than he was just six years ago. Like his friend Bob Dole, he tries to minimize his disabilities, but they are serious. He suffered severe injuries when his plane was shot down over North Vietnam 40 years ago; his right knee was broken when his seat was ejected from the cockpit, and both arms were broken in the crash. These injuries were compounded by the profound abuse he endured during five and a half years in captivity.

McCain seldom talks about the details of his torture by the North Vietnamese, but he was written about them in clinical depth. Despite the injuries he had already suffered, upon capture he was promptly bayoneted in the ankle and then beaten senseless. The North Vietnamese never set either of his broken arms. The only treatment of his broken knee involved cutting all the ligaments and cartilage, so that he never had more than 5 to 10 percent flexion during the entire time he was in prison. In 1968 he was offered early release, and when he refused, because others had been there longer, his captors went at him again; he suffered cracked ribs, teeth broken off at the gum line, and torture with ropes that lashed his arms behind his back and that were progressively tightened all through the night. Ultimately he taped a coerced confession.

McCain's right knee still has limited flexibility. Most of the time this is not too noticeable, but McCain mounts the steps onto planes with a herky-jerky gait. A climb up dozens of steps at the new Hampshire International Speedway, in Loudon, leaves him badly winded and sweating profusely. Because his broken arms were allowed to heal without ever being properly set, to this day McCain cannot raise his arms above his shoulders. He cannot attend to his own hair. An aide is often nearby with a comb and small can of hair spray.

McCain has difficulty putting on his suit jacket unassisted. Once, as we prepared to get out of a cramped airplane cabin in Burlington, Vermont, where McCain would be greeted by the governor, I turned my back for a moment, only to find him struggling. He could sense that his collar was all bunched up, and asked me matter-of-factly to help him straighten it out. I felt the pang that those around McCain feel whenever they realize the extent of his injuries. "You comb someone's hair once," his 2000 communications director, Dan Schnur, says, "and you never forget it."

One of McCain's aides tells me that two years ago, campaigning with McCain, George W. Bush asked him if the senator would like to work out with him. Told that McCain did not, could not, really, "work out," Bush replied, "What do you mean?"

[The Ghost]

33. i agree

at some point last year there was event, i cant remember the name of it, but i saw it on CSPAN, and McCain, Romney, Frist, and others each gave a speech, basically a test run for a presidential run. it was a more religious type of political gathering, and they did a straw poll afterwards. i watched McCain's speech and all I could think was 'why on Earth do they want to nominate than man?'. im not sure if senile is the word, perhaps it is, but there was no doubt he was showing his age. he wasnt in a sitdown interview, this was supposed to be his pitch to sell himself, and it was almost sad to watch. he spoke quite slowly, fumbling words, long pauses, speaking quietly. this is not a knock, these things happen as we all get older, i am just saying he shows his age, and in a time when American truly does want a fresh change, and youve got McCain in this state, up against someone like Obama or Edwards or Clark whose speeches can raise the hairs on your arm, i just dont know how McCain has a chance in my opinion.

[Jennicut]

34. I had no idea McCain was in such rough physical shape

I would almost feel sorry for him if he wasn't such a pandering lying Bush-defender. He more than anyone should know the horrible effects war has on innocent civilians and soilders just doing their jobs. I just don't understand it.