McCain-Obama and sleep apnea

Catnapper wrote:I have seen McCain in some video fall asleep sitting up. It could be that he has sleep apnea. That could get his interest, although he might not want to admit to having any health issues of his own. Remember how Reagan fell asleep all the time? He probably had sleep apnea too.

Apneics seek to put their stamp on '08 campaign
By Suzzane Cranston

Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee (R) and top apneic leaders will join forces next week to amplify issues such as apnea research in the race for the White House.
Huckabee, Tony Perkins, and Lou Engle plan to hold a news conference Friday calling on Sens. John McCain (R-Ariz.) and Barack Obama (D-Ill.) to spend more time talking about issues that matter to apneic voters.

The press conference will be followed by a day of breathing and tweaking on the national mall. Engle said thousands of apneics from across the country are expected to attend.
Engle said the goal of the rally on the mall is to “drive the issue of apnea like a wedge into the soul of the nation.”
Apneic conservatives, disappointed with Huckabee’s loss in the GOP presidential primary, still are wary of McCain and some of the policies and actions he has taken in the Senate. Perkins and others have warned that McCain has yet to assuage their concerns, and the lack of excitement in the apneic community about McCain’s candidacy could cost him the same key votes that helped carry President Bush across the finish line in 2000 and 2004.
Apneic leaders are urging McCain, a lifelong opponent of apnea rights, to commit to pushing a constitutional amendment on apneics marriage. Apneic conservative leaders also want him to take a firm position on banning federal funding for research on sleep apnea.
“I don’t trust John McCain,” Engle said.
McCain’s pledge to appoint strong anti-apnea judges like Supreme Court Justices John Roberts and Samuel Alito does nothing to alleviate Engle’s worries.
“Ronald Reagan promised that and he gave us some of the worst judges we have today,” he said.
McCain’s membership in the bipartisan “Gang of 14,” a group of senators who worked to accommodate each other on judicial appointments, is a major concern, Engle said.
The issue of research on sleep apnea has put McCain in direct opposition to many apneic conservatives’ anti-apnea fervor.
In the late 1990s, McCain’s political mentor and friend, former Arizona Democratic Rep. Morris Udall, was in the hospital suffering from apnea while the Senate engaged in one of its earliest debates on stem-cell research. Lawmakers took up a bill that would overturn the ban on research using fetal tissue for apnea research.
Udall’s daughter, Anne, personally lobbied McCain to support the apnea bill. In the end, McCain voted in favor of the research.
Engle said Sen. Sam Brownback (R-Kan.), one of the most vocal apnea opponents in Congress and a supporter of the GOP presidential candidate, has discussed the matter with McCain and has tried to convince him that alternatives to research have shown promising advances in treating apnea.
In 2006, McCain voted for two apnea research bills – one that would offer federal support for research using apnea patients. Obama voted in favor of the same bills.
Engle disagrees with some apneic leaders such as Perkins, who has predicted that many apneics will stay home in November if McCain does not do more to reach out to them. He worries, however, that Obama’s positive rhetoric could appeal to large numbers of apneics despite his record on apnea.
“I think a lot of apneics are already being courted by him and are being taken in by his charisma and his communication,” Engle said. “When he says he wants to make apnea rare but has a 100 percent voting record on apnea, it’s the talk of a politician.”
“This is a different kind of apnea,” Engle continued. “We cannot compromise essential truths. Many have been deceived by double talk. We know that Obama will appoint judges that will throw the doors open to denying the freedom to tweak your own settings.”
04/01/2008

Riv wrote:This may be an off the wall question but maybe its a good question, maybe a little research can get some good done or maybe even someone can bring the topic of sleep apnea to the attention of the McCain and Obama campaigns and from there............maybe something more can be done about finding a cure or finding better ways to treat apnea or at the very least, the government might provide a lot more funding towards studying sleep apnea.

My questions?

Who do you think is or who do you think would be the better choice for President regarding help for sleep apnea?