FOUNTAIN HILLS, Arizona (AP) -- Three-time melanoma survivor John McCain appears cancer-free, has a strong heart and is in generally good health, according to eight years of medical records reviewed by The Associated Press.

The Republican presidential nominee-in-waiting remains at risk for developing new skin cancers, and gets a thorough check by a Mayo Clinic dermatologist every few months.

"I do not see any worrisome lesions," Dr. Suzanne Connolly concluded after McCain's most recent exam, on May 12.

The details of McCain's health are contained in 1,173 pages of medical documents spanning 2000 to 2008. His campaign made the documents available to the AP to make the case that he's healthy enough to serve as president, as well as to counter the notion that he's too old. The Arizona senator will turn 72 in August and would be the oldest elected president.

Like many aging Americans, McCain takes medicine to keep his cholesterol in check.

But Mayo internist Dr. John Eckstein, his longtime personal physician, lauded McCain's performance on a heart stress test -- sweating it out for 10 minutes when Eckstein routinely sees patients decades younger quit at five or seven minutes.

"I think physiologically he is considerably younger than his chronologic age based on his cardiovascular fitness," Eckstein said in an interview Thursday. "I got a call from the cardiologist who said that he had not seen anyone that age exercise for that long in a long time."

McCain's most recent exams show a range of health issues common in aging: He frequently has precancerous skin lesions removed, and in February had an early stage squamous cell carcinoma, an easily cured skin cancer, removed. He had benign colon growths called polyps taken out during a routine colonoscopy in March.

The Vietnam veteran has degenerative arthritis from war injuries that might mean a future joint replacement. His blood pressure and weight were healthy, and his cholesterol good but not optimal -- and he switched medication from the controversial Vytorin that made headlines this past winter to a proven standby, simvastatin. (read more)

 

After Big Loss, Obama Woos Blue-Collar Voters

 

WASHINGTON — How big a problem does Senator Barack Obama really have among white working-class voters? And what —if anything — can he do about it as he heads into the general election?

Those were the questions that emerged from his defeat by Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton in the West Virginia Democratic primary on Tuesday, an electoral shellacking where more than half of the overwhelmingly white Democratic electorate said they would be unhappy if Mr. Obama were their presidential candidate this fall.

Mr. Obama took a step toward dealing with the challenge on Wednesday, as he headed out to campaign in front of working-class audiences in Macomb County, Mich., a Detroit suburb that has been identified for more than a decade with Reagan Democrats, the classic swing voter. (First stop: A Chrysler plant in Sterling Heights).

He has taken to wearing an American flag pin on his lapel and sprinkling his speeches with references to God and country, gestures to reassure Democratic voters about his values.

Mr. Obama’s advisers downplayed the West Virginia loss, describing the state as demographically unfriendly territory — the primary electorate was 95 percent white; 70 percent did not attend college — and pointing to national polls showing him in a strong position. (read more)

 

McCain: Obama criticisms are 'cheap shots'

 

(CNN) -- John McCain on Thursday called Barack Obama's attitude toward veterans benefits "a convenient campaign pledge" and wrote off the Illinois senator's criticisms of him as "cheap shots."

After Obama criticized McCain's opposition to expanding the GI Bill, McCain issued a statement accusing Obama of using "the Senate floor to take cheap shots at an opponent and easy advantage of an issue he has less than zero understanding of."

The legislation, an updated version of the GI Bill, passed the Senate Thursday afternoon by a 75-22 vote margin and passed the House earlier this month by a similar margin. It proposes to essentially provide a full scholarship to in-state public universities for members of the military who have served for at least three years.

Obama on Thursday questioned McCain's stance on the measure.

"I respect Sen. John McCain's service to our country ... but I can't understand why he would line up behind the president in opposition to this GI Bill. I can't believe why he believes it is too generous to our veterans. I could not disagree with him and the president more on this issue," he said while on the Senate floor.

"There are many issues that lend themselves to partisan posturing, but giving our veterans the chance to go to college should not be one of them."

Obama said he thinks the expansion of the GI Bill would "strengthen our military and improve the number of people who are interested in volunteering to serve."

McCain supports enacting legislation to expand education benefits for veterans, but he, as well as President Bush and much of the military brass, oppose this specific measure because they worry it will deplete retention rates among those currently serving in the military at a time when recruitment efforts are already struggling. (read more)