WP: Clinton Expected to Be At Fewer Kerry Events

[kskiska]

Recuperation From Surgery Is Taking Time

Former president Bill Clinton, whose recuperation from heart surgery last month has been slower than he anticipated, will not make more than a few cameo appearances on behalf of Democratic nominee John F. Kerry, and even an abbreviated schedule is far from certain, friends and Democratic officials said.

Clinton has been recuperating from his Sept. 6 quadruple bypass surgery at his home in Chappaqua, N.Y., with a recovery regimen that has included mile-long walks. He has completed the walks but finds himself exhausted after each jaunt, friends said, and he remains in considerable pain from the chest incision.

His continued fatigue, combined with continued caution from his physicians, means that a frenetic sprint of last-minute campaigning -- the kind of barnstorming that was the 58-year-old Clinton's signature during his own campaigns -- is out of the question, friends said. Kerry officials had hoped that Clinton might spend some of the closing weeks of the campaign on the Democratic nominee's plane, appearing arm in arm at rallies in swing states.

(snip)

Clinton plans to leave Chappaqua for Arkansas soon, to continue his recuperation and work on final plans for the library opening. This will allow limited campaign events in Arkansas, though polls have Bush, who won the state comfortably in 2000, with a solid lead there. This is the second presidential election that has left Clinton bridling on the sidelines; in 2000, then-Vice President Al Gore spurned most of Clinton's offers to help on the campaign trail.

more…
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A38745-2004Oct16.html

[NMDemDist2]

1. let the big dog get well, we'll need him to do "special envoy" duty

for the Kerry administration

[Isere]

2. Take your time, Big Dog

Your highest priority is your own health. We are all wishing you the very best.

[aquart]

3. STAY HOME AND RECOVER, BILL!

I know it's killing him not to be part of this, but LET'S NOT BE SILLY, BILL.

Argh... Get a rope and an ankle monitor.

[Dem2theMax]

6. "Get a rope and an ankle monitor." I bet Hillary has her hands full.

That's probably the only way she can keep him home and not out on the road working for Kerry.

Big Dawg, get well first. We need you for the long haul. We need you period! :)

[are_we_united_yet]

18. AGREED!

Stay home. We need you healthy no matter how the election turns out!!!

[auntAgonist]

4. He needs to look after himself, WE need him down the road :)

[Libby2]

5. A month of recovery is nothing.

I'm concerned about that pain and the exhaustion though.

[Oak2004]

9. I had an aide who had heart surgery recently

and it took her a good six weeks before the pain in her chest was bearable. The pain doesn't come from the heart -- it comes from all the stuff they have to cut open to get at the heart (including, in her instance, sawing through the breastbone).

[physioex]

10. I don't think.....

Big Dawg had such radical surgery. It was probably done with smaller incisions....

[SoCalDem]

12. The ONLY way to expose the heart is to "crack" open your chest

Sawing through the breastbone, and prying the whole chest open is NOT MINOR..

and the veins stripped from a yard-long incision down the leg, is no easy thing to "get over"..

It takes at LEAST 2 months to start "feeling normal"..

It was crummy luck for both Clinton and Kerry that it happened when it did, but it was great luck for Clinton that it did not come AFTER a heart attack..

[VegasWolf]

13. Actually, there are new techniques that employ smaller

lateral incisions made directly under the breast to perform coronary
bypass surgery. Generally, these operations are performed
on women as for obvious reasons women are much more sensitive
about scars on their chest. These operations are more
difficult as the surgeon has a much more limited field of view
and maneuverability.

New Information Shows Bush Indecisive, Paranoid, Delusional

[FlaGranny]

16. Might be feasible for SOME heart surgery

but NOT for quadruple bypass. The whole heart must be exposed and that cannot be done through a mini incision.

[Gasolinedream]

7. I thought I recently read...

that Arkansas is NOT a solid Red state right now.

[Laelth]

8. That's absolutely correct ...

The latest Zogby poll (Oct. 10-11) of 503 likely voters shows Bush with a one-point lead (Bush 46, Kerry 45, Nader 2). Arkansas is up for grabs!

:smoke:

-Laelth

[demokatgurrl]

15. media bullshit spin. it's NOT "solid" for Bush.

and sadly, a few visits from Clinton might work.

[VegasWolf]

11. Drudge is making this out to be a big Hillary conspiracy!! n/t

New Information Shows Bush Indecisive, Paranoid, Delusional

[demokatgurrl]

14. As much as it would be great to see him, and as much

as Kerry would probably benefit, I'd really rather see Clinton stay home as long as it takes to recover. Tape a few commercials or something. I want him around for a long time. This slower-than-expected recovery worries me.:-(

[Gin]

17. You first Bill.......rest and recuperate....that is the most important

thing to accomplish right now........g

[DaveSZ]

19. I hope he makes some ads for Kerry