Lieberman: I've Talked To Doctors, McCain "Will Live To 85 At Least"

Asked again on Sunday whether Sarah Palin is ready to be president, Sen. Joe Lieberman went one step further than he has in past remarks -- virtually pledging to voters that John McCain "will live to 85 at least."

In an audio clip of the Tampa, Florida, event obtained by the Huffington Post, Lieberman acknowledged that he has spoken "to doctors and insurance actuaries" about McCain's health, "because I get asked this question so much."

"People say to me, oh jeez, he's 72 and he's got skin cancer," Lieberman said, adding: "I can tell you he's been in remission for eight years. Secondly, I talked -- because I get asked this question so much -- I talked to doctors and insurance actuaries. And they tell me based on McCain's age, his health, including skin cancer, he'll live till at least 85. And probably longer."

Lieberman once again offered a prayer that Palin would not soon have to serve as commander in chief: "I believe that he'll be able to serve through his first term for which he's elected, please God."

Next, Lieberman noted that the GOP nominee has a 96 year old mother, and proceeded to relate a story in which he said she looked great, and she asked Lieberman if he was "trying to pick [her] up."

The source audio from the event is a bit scratchy, but clear enough.

An MIT study found that the 72 year old McCain would have just over a 5 percent chance of dying in his first term. Separately, the AP put the odds at 1 in 4 that McCain might die during an ostensible second term.

While talking with a reporter last week, Lieberman answered a similar question about Palin's readiness to serve as commander in chief by saying "thank God she's not going to have to be president from day one. McCain's going to be alive and well." Elsewhere in that interview, however, the Democrat-turned-independent said Palin could be ready to take over "if, God forbid, an accident occurs or something of that kind" struck McCain.

Comments

[altonian]

06:33 PM on 11/04/2008

This is the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard. I'm infuriated­. So, all else being equal, some quack, according to Joe Lieberman, thinks he'll live FIVE (5!!!) WHOLE YEARS beyond the end of a second term? Has anyone bothered to consider what other former presidents look like five years before they kick the bucket? Reagan? Ford? Nixon? We're not electing the pope here, people - the idea isn't to tempt fate and succession by a column of white smoke, let alone any part of a full presidenti­al term spent in a vegetative state.

I'd love to know which doctor would actually bet his career on this, as if such personal stakes even PALE by comparison to the certain peril in store for all of the Free World should McCain make an untimely exit.

[gorgonzola2]

08:23 PM on 11/02/2008

Lie Berman is in re mis sion too but sa rah will sit on his fa ce just the same

[RedKnuckles]

02:05 PM on 11/02/2008

In remission 8 years? Didn't they carve out the side of his face fewer years ago than that?

[bored2tears]

08:18 AM on 11/02/2008

Then again, you never know when someone might choke on a pretzel. Just sayin' ...

[FormerLutheranChick]

01:22 PM on 10/28/2008

Watched a clip from "Meet The Press" Sunday and IMHO, McCain just doesn't look very healthy. His voice seemed weaker and craggier and he just looked tired. Lieberman cited McCain's mother's longevity as "evidence" McCain will also live at least until his eighties. But what about his father and grandfathe­r, both dead in their sixties, I believe, due to heart problems? And what about McCain's anger issues and Type A personalit­y which are also associated with heart attacks and stroke?

Lieberman seems to lose credibilit­y every time he speaks. I really admired him when he ran with Al Gore back in 2000 and I remember the hostility of the GOP after the election when he and Gore rightly disputed the results. The GOP called Gore and Lieberman "Sore Losermen". Lieberman is McCain's best friend but doesn't he have any pride? Doesn't he remember how the GOP savaged him in 2000?

Ironically­, many moderate Republican­s would have voted for a McCain/Lie­berman ticket. The neocon religious right would've been miffed (but enough to vote Democrat?) and McCain/Lie­berman would have appealed to the center---t­he voters they want to court---no­t the extreme right.

Since 2000, Lieberman has morphed from statesman to buffoon. This statement on how McCain WILL live to see at least 85 is ludicrous and irresponsi­ble. I've lost all respect for him and I suspect that others have as well.

[Insightful]

11:20 AM on 10/28/2008

GO AWAY JOE. If Al Gore had chosen a different person for VP he probably would have won and we would not be in this war and economic mess.

We can't let this old war hawk continue with the Bush doctrine, Both of you are like poison in the Senate. When the democrats take over the Senate they will be able to pass much needed legislatio­n that you have helped to block.

[wolf58]

10:32 AM on 10/28/2008

So what did he do, cut him in half and count his rings?

[LetMeUnderstandThis]

10:22 AM on 10/28/2008

Caption
TAP: Hey Joe
Joe Lierman: Yeah John
TAP: We both sold our Souls
Joe Lierman: Yup ain't that something

[rock2casbah]

10:07 AM on 10/28/2008

Exit Joe thePlumber­. This week Joe the Prophet.

[Lotus19]

09:54 AM on 10/28/2008

So...Liebe­rman has talked to doctors and actuaries who have never treated McCain and they were able to tell him that McCain will (not might) live to 85 "at least". Sound like a bunch of quacks to me.

[Deluded]

09:01 AM on 10/28/2008

This is sad stuff - threadbare or what?

[Bozwellian]

11:07 AM on 10/28/2008

SOooooooo THREADBARE­...uh, Mac has had a number of physical" trauma's assault his body...any others out and about who want to claim he epitomizes great health with NO risidual effect/aft­er effects showing up and about ? His father died at a relitively early age...that genetic factor should be in the assessment as NOT just the mother's gene's...R­Idiculous assumptive­s being projected and Mac could clear up some of it just by REALLY opening up his medical records with ALL its history for FULL perusal and NO RESTIRCTIO­NS ...just for transparen­cy sake . As his "employer"­, we the "emploper" have legit concerns that could be resolved ...perhaps or perhaps not and one way OR another by TRANSPAREN­CY of the record to show nothing there "there" or to hide.

[xhibi]

08:40 AM on 10/28/2008

What's so exclusive about Leiberman supporting McCain and spewing talking points? His voice? Like we never heard it before?

[dagdavid]

08:37 AM on 10/28/2008

What he meant to say is, "I talked to WITCH doctors" You see, he spoke with Sarah Palin's Reverend Moothy, the famed witch hunter of Wasilla.

[HurryUp1212009]

08:36 AM on 10/28/2008

Lieberman has ZERO credibilit­y anymore. Besides, nobody listens to him - proved by the fact that 75% of Jewish voters are for Obama, not Lieberman'­s buddy McCain.

[DaOne]

08:31 AM on 10/28/2008

Maybe it was zombie witchdocto­rs he was talking to.