Columns, Opinion

JOHNSTON: Pneumonia sickens Clinton campaign

Roughly a week after Hillary Clinton labeled half the supporters of the Republican camp as “deplorable,” her campaign coincidentally took a huge turn in the wrong direction, with Clinton’s health coming under heavy scrutiny.

Normally the media’s hyper-investigative reports into candidates’ personal health profiles can become rather annoying and seemingly unnecessary. However, with only two months until Election Day, the health of the two elderly front runners should have a place in the broader discussion.

Clinton’s issues largely started after she left this year’s 9/11 memorial service in New York earlier than expected. This may have been overlooked, were she not spotted potentially passing out as she entered a black van that raced up to the street corner she was standing on.

Some avid supporters argue that the innocent incident was no more than Hillary tripping on the sidewalk, but a closer look at the video suggests that she lost control of her body entirely, requiring quick-thinking Secret Service agents to jump out of formation to secure the scene.

Several of them practically carried her into the van, while others rushed to obscure the scene by standing in front of the commotion. Unfortunately for Clinton, the disastrous situation was by no means hidden.

After hours of hush-hush from Team Hillary, it was reported that the Democratic nominee had contracted pneumonia. Recall that on Sept. 5 Hillary fell into an untimely coughing fit while giving a speech at a campaign stop in Ohio.

One shouldn’t put it past the Clinton camp to cover up such a diagnosis, but that may be no more than a politically-charged conspiracy theory, and it’s beside the point. The fact that a 68-year-old frontrunner has been diagnosed with a serious lung sickness should raise eyebrows around the country.

It’s no secret that pneumonia can be dangerous for elderly citizens. Hillary and her sparring partner, Republican nominee Donald Trump, can both be described as such. (Trump is two years older at 70.)

Whether or not you think the media is being “fair” about their reporting of her health, there’s no question that it’s extremely detrimental to her campaign. Citizens have a right to know if a potential president’s health is in jeopardy. Pneumonia is dangerous.

Additionally, supporters must worry that pneumonia may take a while to recover from, diminishing Clinton’s energy that would otherwise be put toward her campaign appearances. It will be interesting to see when and if she tours again.

The debates, however, cannot be avoided. Many may think back to the legendary Richard Nixon – John F. Kennedy debates in 1960. In this first nationally televised presidential debate, a sickly Nixon appeared frail and worn out, whereas the youthful Kennedy utilized the scene to boost his likability.

Hillary may end up suffering from a similar dilemma. Even with modern medicine, the debates may end up favoring a healthy-looking Trump if Hillary appears unwell or perhaps older than she is.

So far, we can only wait and see how fast she recovers and how the Democratic Party handles the health scare.

While the Democrats scurry to find solutions, let us not forget about the other candidates. For the first time this campaign season, Gary Johnson has actually made prominent news after his major gaffe in a Sept. 9 MSNBC interview where he failed to know what “Aleppo” was. (For the many who also don’t know what Aleppo is, it’s the largest city in Syria and is a focal point of the crisis in the region. It should be known by any candidate.)

Luckily for Johnson, any media attention is good attention. He can now ride a small, but meaningful, wave of recognition on his quest to secure the magic 15 percent polling average that allows him to debate.

Trump has benefited from Johnson’s blunder, though, by using the opportunity to lay low and avoid his weekly dose of criticism that appears everywhere on liberal-centered media outlets.

Clinton, meanwhile, who’s received most of her own criticism from her dishonesty about her private email server, is now under fire from David Axelrod, who ran both of U.S. President Barack Obama’s successful campaign runs. Axelrod tweeted on Monday, “Antibiotics can take care of pneumonia. What’s the cure for an unhealthy penchant for privacy that repeatedly creates unnecessary problems?”

He hasn’t been Clinton’s No. 1 fan, but this comment sparked conservative media attention as he ripped into her campaign staff’s continued strategy of obfuscation.

Now is not a time for any candidate to incur setbacks, and it’s certainly no time to lose a political ally with the credibility Axelrod has.

Team Hillary has to be worried, but you won’t hear any of them say it.

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