John McCain is releasing medical records, to a few
Access to his history over the last eight years is restricted to a small group of reporters. The campaign has delayed releasing the files.
After a long delay, John McCain's campaign plans to release the 71-year-old Republican's medical history in Phoenix today, but has decided to restrict access to the records to a small number of reporters.
Campaign aides told several news outlets this week that among newspapers, only the Washington Post and the Arizona Republic would be permitted to view the Arizona senator's health records, providing a "pool report" to other print reporters who travel with the candidate.
McCain's health is of keen interest to voters, who frequently ask him during his town hall meetings about his age and whether he has any medical problems. The limited access to documents -- which will not be available to the public -- could raise questions about McCain's pledge to "set a new standard for transparency and accountability."
The campaign has also been under fire for delaying release of the documents, after initially indicating it would release them last year. Then, earlier this year, campaign aides said the records would be available in mid-April. That was pushed to today.
McCain's Democratic opponents -- New York Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, 60, and Illinois Sen. Barack Obama, 46 -- have not released their medical records.
The McCain records will cover the last eight years, including 2000, when McCain underwent more than five hours of surgery to remove a melanoma, a cancerous skin lesion, from his right temple. Doctors conducted exploratory surgery at the time, shortly after McCain withdrew from the 2000 presidential race, to determine if the cancer had spread to his lymph nodes. It had not.
At a news conference in Stockton, McCain said Thursday that his health was "excellent" and suggested that voters might see his age as an asset when comparing him with Obama. "Knowledge matters and judgment matters," he said. "I strongly believe that my experience and knowledge and judgment will be a deciding factor in this race."
The campaign will allow television reporters and three news services -- Bloomberg, Reuters and the Associated Press -- to review the records, in addition to the two newspapers. The reporters will have three hours to view about 400 pages and will not be allowed to photocopy them. Other news organizations will have access to a 90-minute conference call with McCain's physicians and online summaries of the records.
- McCain Keeping the Door Open Aug 30, 2004
- John McCain, Barack Obama on healthcare Oct 13, 2008
- McCain camp goes on offense in S.C. Jan 17, 2008
