May 22, 2008 1:13
Controlling The McCain Medical Release (Updated w/ McCain Campaign Response)
No one releases a new type of toothpaste on the Friday before Memorial Day. It is what news editors and marketing reps consider a publicity black hole, a time when the nation's attention turns from televisions and newspapers to filling swimming pools and driving to the beach. So it is no accident that the much delayed release of John McCain's health records has been scheduled for tomorrow. The campaign is billing the event as an unprecedented, transparent look at McCain's medical records since his 2000 diagnosis with type IIa melanoma. But the campaign is also clearly trying to carefully control how the information is distributed.
The actual medical records will be viewed by only a select few news organizations, and even fewer print reporters. According to a report in the New York Times, the pool that will view the actual medical records Friday morning will include reporters from the three national wire services, the Associated Press, Reuters and Bloomberg, as well as the major television networks, NBC, ABC, CBS, CNN and Fox. Only two newspapers are scheduled to be allowed access, the Washington Post and the Arizona Republic. While prior McCain campaign pool events have included a spot for a newsmagazine reporter, no reporter from TIME, Newsweek or U.S. News will be allowed to view the records, the campaign confirmed Thursday morning. All print reporters traveling with the campaign will receive a pool report of the records review, which will be written by pool reporters.
The campaign has not explained how the pool was selected, and has so far rebuffed requests by a number of news organizations, including TIME, to expand the pool. It is not clear what impact, if any, the lack of more access will have on the way the medical documents are reported.
Friday's medical release is also notable for what records will not be released. In late 1999, a select group of news organizations were able to view about 1,500 pages of medical records dating back McCain's Navy service in Vietnam, which will not be reshown on Friday. Those records included psychological evaluations of McCain as far back as the 1970s. The evaluations generally showed McCain to be in good mental and physical health.
UPDATE: Jill Hazelbaker, the McCain campaign's communications director, has emailed a response to this post, which can be read after the jump:
In 1999, the campaign also pooled the review of the physical documents - with a much smaller group. At the time, the review was hailed as both serious and thorough.Recognizing that this is a transparency issue, the campaign made the decision to put extensive and detailed summaries on our website, as well as host a ninety minute conference call with the physicians who have treated McCain over the past eight years. In 1999, reporters did not have direct access to his doctors, nor were summaries of his health made public.
While we cannot satisfy all people all the time, we believe we are making Senator McCain's medical history public in a thoughtful and substantive manner.
About Swampland
Ana Marie Cox is the founding editor of Wonkette and the author of the novel Dog Days. Read more
Joe Klein is TIME's political columnist and author of six books, most recently Politics Lost. Read more
Karen Tumulty is TIME's National Political Correspondent and has also covered the White House and Congress. Read more
Jay Carney is TIME's Washington bureau chief. He has covered the Clinton and Bush 43 White Houses as well as Congress. Read more
Jay Newton-Small has covered the Bush 43 White House and Congress since the DeLay era. Read more
Michael Scherer is a TIME Washington bureau correspondent covering the 2008 presidential campaign. Read more
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Reader Comments (24)
Considering your magazine published an article of pure speculation as to McCain health only a couple weeks ago, do you really blame the campaign for being careful? You all could have waited until they media was provided with the information, but instead you decided to preempt the release of his medical records by stirring up baseless fear about his health.
The NYT threatened the McCain campaign with unflattering coverage when they found out they would not get credentials. You seem pretty close to doing the same thing here.
-Ben
Posted by bon | May 22, 2008 1:47 PM
Thanks for this, Michael, I hadn't seen this anywhere else. This is really alarming. Is there any explanation for why this is being done in such an unusual manner?
Posted by Elvis Elvisberg
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May 22, 2008 1:53 PM
Sanjay Gupta (who is a neurosurgeon) said on CNN (yesterday, I think) that he was one of the people who'd be looking at the records. I wonder if other news organizations have sent medical correspondents to look at this stuff. Do you know? Is there to be only one reporter per organization, so there can't be any divvying up of the duties, reducing the amount of material that will actually get covered?
Posted by KathyR | May 22, 2008 1:54 PM
ben (?)
Yeah, I like that plan... a media that "waits" until it is "provided the information" by the respective "campaigns"!
Or, it could be that Time's "speculation" is the reason that the records have been released.
Posted by Dennis Denuto | May 22, 2008 1:56 PM
Mr Straight Talk is being very selective about who sees the report, and calculating when it comes to timing the release. I thought the Senator was an expert in letting it all hang out. In the end he is just another politician. I now await the ritual screech from those left out. Oh wait: this is McCain not Clinton.
Posted by Pat | May 22, 2008 1:56 PM
Well, well, well… looks like the chickens have come home to barbecue …er, roost. If nothing else, McC will learn from this that you have to KEEP stroking some reporters if you want them to roll over for you.
Posted by FlownOver | May 22, 2008 1:56 PM
Is Joe Lieberman representing the reporting "pool"?
Meanwhile, Mr. Straight Talk could not even BOTHER to vote on the Webb "GI-Bill".
Not even the guts to vote against it.
Posted by attaturk | May 22, 2008 2:00 PM
The campaign has not explained how the pool was selected, and has so far rebuffed requests by a number of news organizations, including TIME, to expand the pool.
Mr. Scherer,
You sound disappointed that you weren't invited to the party. I understand, and I offer you my sympathy. I too was once rejected by people who I thought were my friends. In 5th grade, just before middle school, some of my closest friends decided they were too "cool" for me and they stopped talking to me and inviting me to their birthday parties. It took me a long time to accept this disappointment and to move on. Eventually, I found new friends, people who I could trust and depend on.
Hold your head up Mr. Scherer. You were better than them all along and you'll make even better friends someday.
Posted by CDServais | May 22, 2008 2:01 PM
Bon,
That article was not pure speculation. It was what we know about the illness he had and what it means in the medical literature, along with descriptions of how McCain talks about his health and performs on the trail, and it was published only after the campaign had repeatedly delayed the medical release of records or access to his doctors.
And I am making no threat. I am just saying what is going on. And I will report what happens. The McCain campaign gets to determine how it tries to control information. We get to decide what we write and when.
M.
Posted by Michael Scherer | May 22, 2008 2:02 PM
Better that they have journos with a medical background to review the records. Reporters can be very irresponsible when writing about things they don't know anything about, like medical issues.
Posted by James, Los Angeles | May 22, 2008 2:19 PM
"the nation's attention turns from televisions and newspapers to filling swimming pools and driving to the beach."
More like filling their gas tanks and emptying the bank accounts. No beaches for us this year.
Posted by LaSwamp | May 22, 2008 2:20 PM
M: Sorry, but it was speculation. The only reliable source to go to for one’s medical conditions is their medical records. You knew the campaign was going to release them, but they did not do so fast enough for you so you published an article talking about what could be wrong with him and what might have happened. I know reporters are not supposed to wait, but barring your getting a look at McCain's medical records prior to their release, you did not have any new information to offer.
This brings up a question: are you going to write any articles about the possible medical conditions of a man who was a chain smoker for 24 years? I only ask because you seem to have no interest in Obama’s medical records even though he is probably at very high risk for any number of ailments. McCain only delayed the release of his medical records and you wrote an article to get back at him, yet it seems you could care less that McCain’s opponent has given no indication of releasing his medical records or even discussed his health.
(This disagreement notwithstanding, I do enjoy the blog.)
-Ben
Posted by bon | May 22, 2008 2:30 PM
The campaign has not explained how the pool was selected
Was he looking for friendlies? The WaPo will legitimate the craziest Republican stuff; the Arizona Republic is a complicated case. They have a traditionally antagonistic relationship with McCain that has gotten much cozier this time around.
http://dyn.politico.com/printstory.cfm?uuid=90456A63-3048-5C12-0093EBB60A801C4B
“Anyone surprised to learn that the Arizona Republic judges U.S. Sen. John McCain of Arizona the best Republican choice for president in 2008 simply hasn't been paying attention,” it began.
David Corn, Washington bureau chief at Mother Jones, recently noted the stark contrast between the 1999 and 2008 editorials.
“What a difference two election cycles make,” wrote Corn. “The endorsement says nothing about McCain's ‘volcanic temper’ and worrisome temperament. It seems the Republic has made its peace with McCain — especially since he became a front-runner.”
Posted by Acid J | May 22, 2008 2:35 PM
MS The campaign has not explained how the pool was selected..
Who are the members of the pool writing the pool report?
Posted by grape_crush | May 22, 2008 2:49 PM
Anybody have any innocuous theories for this behavior? The McCain campaign repeatedly delayed the release and now they're finally do so, they seem to be trying to restrict analysis in various ways (limiting access and the timing). The obvious explanation is they're trying to hide something about McCain's health. If they're not, delaying and limiting the release seems like a dumb move.
Posted by Crust
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May 22, 2008 2:51 PM
What Acid J said re the Arizona Republic. The first go round, McCain threw them off the bus and their reporter had to follow by car. How different this go round. They seem to have learned the lesson McCain wanted to teach them.
Posted by Crust
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May 22, 2008 2:55 PM
Hmmm. Perhaps this is a clue?
What's in John McCain's medical records? He'll be releasing everything about his repeated cancer surgeries. But he won't release his psychiatric records, which hold clues to the effect of his Vietnam captivity. By Mark Benjamin
(h/t TPM)
Posted by James, Los Angeles | May 22, 2008 3:24 PM
"...no reporter from TIME, Newsweek or U.S. News will be allowed to view the records..."
Another reason to vote for McCain: No trust for the weekly tree murderers.
Posted by QUESTION HILLARY
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May 22, 2008 3:32 PM
MS: UPDATE: Jill Hazelbaker, the McCain campaign's communications director, has emailed a response to this post..
In other words, yes, we still are tightly controlling the release of McCain's medical history, only in ways that we haven't done before.
Posted by grape_crush | May 22, 2008 3:38 PM
Shorter bon: Unless you actually see McCain's records you cannot even conclude that he had cancer...even if McCain admits it. And if you do not see his birth certificate, you cannot call him old.
Hell, McCain may be a 52 year-old amateur gymnast for all we know.
Posted by space | May 22, 2008 3:51 PM
Hell, McCain may be a 52 year-old amateur gymnast for all we know.
I've always believed that he's actually a 15 years old girl. But that would make him ineligible to be President, right? If we don't know his age, how can we know he qualifies for the office?
So it's clear then--the McCain campaign must freeze all activity until after somebody gets a look at his medical records to verify his age.
Posted by FastEddie | May 22, 2008 3:54 PM
Posted by Michael Scherer | May 22, 2008 2:02 PM:
The McCain campaign gets to determine how it tries to control information. We get to decide what we write and when.
Uh...actually, that should read:
"The McCain campaign gets to determine how it tries to control information. We also get to decide how we try to control information, too."
Deciding "what we write and when" is the essence of "controlling information", is it not?
Posted by stuart_zechman | May 22, 2008 5:52 PM
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