Let's put Michele Bachmann's politics aside for a moment and argue about that another day. The big story in the last few days has been how debilitating her migraine headaches might be:
One former top Bachmann staffer, who denied being a source of the Daily Caller report, told POLITICO the congresswoman's migraines were so prevalent that the entire office and campaign staff — even interns — knew about the problem.
“Within the Bachmann team, this was not a secret about her headaches and the problems and doors going closed. It could be anyone from an intern to a chief of staff that could be aware of this,” the staffer said.
This staffer said it was a common for the congressional office to literally go dark when Bachmann had a migraine.
The congresswoman would go into her personal office, turn off the lights and close the door, sometimes for hours, waiting for the headache to pass, the staffer said.
I have a lot of sympathy for Bachmann. I've suffered off an on with cluster headaches ever since my college days (none for years now, thank goodness). From what I understand about migraines, the pain is similar, and I'm here to tell you the attacks are horrendous. In the middle of such a headache, the only thing I can do is lie down, usually in the fetal position, and just hang on till the pain goes away. Writhing and moaning are a big help. I don't know quite how to describe how bad the pain is except to say that in the immediate aftermath of an attack -- the sudden ending of the all-consuming pain -- is the best I've ever felt in my life.
Whether or not the speculation about Bachmann -- does her health problem make her unfit for the presidency? -- is unfair is hard to say. Some infirmities -- Roosevelt's hidden paralysis, for example -- prove no hindrance. Something like Reagan's Alzheimer's, depending on how bad it actually was while he was still in office -- would be. Woodrow Wilson's wife, we learned much after the fact, was de facto president for a time after his stroke.
Something like severe and persistent headaches can be debilitating, but usually it's for a short time. Unless you can conjure up a scenario in which she's poised over the red button trying to make a decision when a migraine strikes, it doesn't seem to me that it should be such a big issue.
