The strategist behind former President George W. Bush is now handing out advice to presidential candidate Michele Bachmann.
Wednesday on America’s Newsroom, political analyst Karl Rove told Fox News anchor Bill Hemmer that Bachmann should release her medical records for the public to see.
“It’s going to be important for her to get her doctors out there, quickly,” Rove said, “to provide the medical records and to provide the reassurance that people are going to want to have.”
Rove pointed to past candidates, like Vice President Dick Cheney, whose health has been called into question by the media and public. The former White House deputy chief of staff said health can be a significant concern for high-profile candidates.
Rove suggested the best move for Bachmann’s camp would be full disclosure at this point, in order to quell future concerns.
“A president’s health, even a vice presidential candidate’s health, [they] become issues,” Rove said. “In fact, traditionally, the president candidates have to make all of their medical records available to doctors representing news organization who then write them up.”
During the 2008 elections, buzz surrounding John McCain’s physical capability to serve as president forced him to produce over 1,000 pages of medical records. The then-71-year-old McCain, who would have been the oldest president ever to serve, was a prisoner of war and a cancer survivor, but doctors still found him fit to serve.