Full statement from his campaign:
During a campaign event yesterday evening, Sen. Sanders experienced some chest discomfort. Following medical evaluation and testing he was found to have a blockage in one artery and two stents were successfully inserted. Sen. Sanders is conversing and in good spirits. He will be resting up over the next few days. We are canceling his events and appearances until further notice, and we will continue to provide appropriate updates.
Omnes Omnibus
I wonder what DWS and the DNC did this time.
David Anderson
Looking at the actuarial tables is a legitimate question for candidate differentiation.
Enhanced Voting Techniques
I think that’s a reasonable argument that Sandars really shouldn’t be president. That’s a pretty high stress job for a guy with heart problems.
Richard Guhl
This kind of shoots a hole in his “look how vigorous he is ” argument.
Yarrow
I didn’t think he looked well at the last debate. His voice sounded hoarse but also he looked flushed and not well. Best wishes to him for a good recovery.
rikyrah
Get well Wilmer
TomatoQueen
Oh. How awful. Time to withdraw. I hear Vermont is lovely at this time of year.
satby
@Omnes Omnibus: I’m sure it’s Hillary’s fault somehow.
Droppy
He should not be in the race, nor should Biden. Warren is just barely young enough, and only because she is individually in good shape. This is a tough, draining, debilitating job – we need a person with enough vigor. Harris and Booker are just the right age – old enough to have experience but not likely to keel over just yet from the stress.
[Individual 1] mistermix
@Droppy: Warren’s health and stamina is really amazing, for almost any age, and certainly her age.
trollhattan
Holy crap, does this mean we’ve only been receiving a half-Sanders all this time? What if full-Sanders returns to the trail?
Here’s hoping he gets better, then decides to spend more time in Vermont, which I hear is lovely in the fall.
BC in Illinois
As I said in the last thread:
I’m eight years younger than Senator Sanders — and every case is different — but I can say that, if it was only blockages and no further heart damage, this is something that one can bounce back from. With rehab, exercise, diet, etc.
But it will take some time.
trollhattan
@[Individual 1] mistermix:
Unless it’s done with mirrors I think she could run circles around some candidates 15 years younger.
Elizabelle
I hope Sanders recovers and retires. Enough.
Cacti
@Droppy:
If only people liked them.
NotMax
“Will I still be able to wag my finger, doc?”
Steeplejack
Pelosi and Schiff’s press conference just started a few minutes ago. Pelosi starting off with drug prices. Wha?
ETA: New post up, for those whose browser cache is not showing it yet.
NotMax
Pelosi traversing all over the map. Stay on target.
West of the Rockies
@Cacti:
I’d be thrilled with Harris and very pleased with Booker.
AnneWith
Knitting is a fun and useful hobby. Maybe Wilmer should look into it. I hear long walks in the woods are nice, too.
Chyron HR
Oh my god. They’re going to claim he was poisoned by the “neoliberals”.
TheronWare
Liz Warren is the energizer bunny!
Quinerly
@Omnes Omnibus: ?
Amir Khalid
@trollhattan:
I’m not so sure that Sanders can come back to the campaign at full strength, whatever that may mean. He is already at higher risk of another cardiac event now, and If he keeps on campaigning he only will increase that risk even more. He might well survive a second event, but i don’t think his candidacy could survive the inevitable questions about his medical fitness for the presidency.
ronin122
Wow, you guys really are fucking assholes. You don’t have to like the guy, you can even hate him, but you all seem pretty celebratory over someone with health issues or even taking the piss out of it. If that’s what this site has become, I guess 10 years here has been a good run. [I’m supporting of someone else in the primary but I expect this shit from Rethuglicans, not so-called liberals.]
Bye.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
I especially enjoy this because it will provoke dozens of podcasted manifestos decrying the snark of middle-aged neo-liberals as an assault on The People
Jeffro
@David Anderson: That…that is a GREAT sentence. Thank you!
jimmiraybob
@satby:
The failure of one of the Clinton Death Squads to finish the mission, despite thousands of successes in the past, reflects badly upon Hillary’s ability to get things done. The shareholders will certainly hold her at fault.
Barbara
@ronin122: I don’t see any celebration whatsoever, just recognition. Frankly, I am surprised that health issues have not arisen before for Sanders, Biden, or Trump.
kindness
I wish Bernie well, even if I won’t vote for him in the Primary.
Uncle Cosmo
There’s a place in the Senate for a shouty lefty with a social conscience but no higher political ambitions. At such time as BS abandons the latter & resumes the former, I will be happy to retire my dream of one day seeing Mrs. BS in an orange jumpsuit for the looting & destruction of Burlington College. They can even keep all the Russki-bot-bucks dumped into the campaign for all I care.
Uncle Cosmo
@ronin122: For someone who says s/he’s been around for 10 years, it’s interesting that I’d never noticed your nym before, Dr. Sparkov.
Addition by subtraction. Do svedanya!
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@Barbara: some mockery of the conspiracy theories and resentful paranoia espoused by Bernie’s followers. Many of which Bernie himself has promoted, so I guess in that sense, we are mocking a guy who helped elect Donald Trump.
I’m okay with that.
trollhattan
@ronin122:
“Bye” back, bitcher about imaginary posts.
Amir Khalid
@ronin122:
Contrary to your assertion, no commenter in this thread is openly wishing for Wilmer to die or become incapacitated. Most are expressing long-held misgivings about his candidacy, and their also long-held preference that he withdraw.
Fleeting Expletive
My best friend, a woman of 71 had an emergency angioplasty w/balloon stent this weekend. I can’t get out to see her 150 miles away until my car gets fixed.
Chyron HR
@ronin122:
Ah, yes, I forgot: Bernie can denigrate and slander Democrats (all Democrats) as much as he likes, but god forbid we mere mortals respond in kind.
mrmoshpotato
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: Three cheers for TBogg.
Jinchi
@Cacti: A lot of people like them and would be happy with the Dem options even if they were the only two candidates. It’s just hard to stand out for n a 20 candidate field.
mrmoshpotato
@NotMax:
Yes, but you’ll have to stop shouting and come up with workable policies.
(I seriously wish him well – good health and dropping out of the race back in 2016.)
Yarrow
@Uncle Cosmo: The nym goes back to at least 2009, according to a google search. Don’t think people are being celebratory, though. Health issues are an increased issue with older candidates. That’s just being realistic.
phein60
@Richard Guhl: H’mm, not so much. Stents are used to open up coronary arteries (I have 3), and not necessarily a sign of other heart issues. After they’re in place, the flow of blood to your heart is quite invigorating. Bernie’s probably good for another 8 years on that front.
Cacti
This would be the perfect opportunity for him to bow out gracefully, without enraging the most ardent of his cultists.
So he probably won’t.
JGabriel
@Droppy:
And because she’s a woman. Women tend to live longer then men, and age a little more slowly. If Warren were a 70 year old male, or even a 65 year okl male, I’d say he was too old. Every president who first took office at the age of 64 or older was either uniformly bad at their job, or died in office, or both. When I tell you that George HW Bush was the best of the bunch, you know we’re scraping the bottom of the barrel.
But it doesn’t apply to women, because we have no historical record of women being president.
For reference, here’s a list of the 11 oldest presidents by age:
Donald Trump 70 years, 220 days
Ronald Reagan 69 years, 349 days
W. H. Harrison 68 years, 23 days
James Buchanan 65 years, 315 days
G. H. W. Bush 64 years, 222 days
Zachary Taylor 64 years, 100 days
——
D. Eisenhower 62 years, 98 days
Andrew Jackson 61 years, 354 days
John Adams 61 years, 125 days
Gerald Ford 61 years, 26 days
Harry S. Truman 60 years, 339 days
Steeplejack
@Uncle Cosmo:
Get a clue, Unc.
As Yarrow points out, the nym goes way back.
Chetan Murthy
@rikyrah:
I sure hope he doesn’t injure his health or worse in this race. Geez, for all his faults, he’s done enormous service to our country just by pulling the Overton Window so far left. An enormous service.
PenandKey
Feel free to point out anyone who’s celebrating this. It’s unfortunate, for him, that he’s having health problems. It is not, however, a surprise given his age. Given that he’s also been a major thorn in the side of legitimate Democratic candidates for the last few election runs, and that he’s little more than a self-entitled splitter candidate, there’s also a positive lining in that if his health conditions force him out at least he’s out.
If you honestly expect everyone here to not talk about the political ramifications of a major splitter candidate having health problems mid-race I’m not sure you’ve actually been here ten years. If you actually had, you’d be able to differentiate between the malicious glee you’re attributing to commenters and the discussions we have.
It’s been this way for years. I’ll presume you have been here that long, because lord knows I’ve switched up user names a few times and have lost track, but I haven’t seen anything on this thread yet I haven’t seen most of the time I’ve been here.
gvg
@Richard Guhl: I have relatives who have had stents put in and they rave about how much better they feel afterwards. Apparently when more oxygen can get to your whole body through unblocked blood flow, you feel more energetic. My aunt was actually hoping my dad would be found to have a blockage, because then it could be fixed with a stent. He wasn’t that lucky but anyway, stents aren’t a sign of real problems apparently.
PenandKey
@gvg: No, they’re still a major sign of a real problem, but they’re also an effective fix for most of the problem they’re designed for. The underlying blockage build-up and possible long-term stress damage will still be an issue.
Dorothy A. Winsor
I had a heart attack and two stents inserted. I was up and around that afternoon. I tired easily though. And I had to recover for 6 weeks before starting 12 weeks of cardiac rehab.
Sanders should be fine.
Fair Economist
If this was just angina treated with angioplasty there are few long-term issues from this event, although it indicates there’s significant atherosclerosis and so a higher risk of more cardiac events in the future. If it was rescue angioplasty for a mild heart attack, it’s a problem. The press release isn’t clear what the severity is. A priori just angina is far more likely but I would expect in that case the campaign would say his CPK enzymes were normal and there was no long term damage.
Bobby Thomson
@Uncle Cosmo: this.
Bobby Thomson
@Cacti: yep.
randy khan
I’m sorry to hear this, but glad they intervened quickly and, hopefully, addressed the specific issue. My f-i-l had a stent inserted in his renal artery maybe 15 years ago, it took care of the issue, and he’s still going strong at 88. (Anecdata, but what the heck.) I hope that they have done a thorough workup – and I expect that they have – to make sure that other interventions aren’t necessary.
Although people can have heart issues at nearly any age, it does highlight the health risks of candidates who are on the far side of 75.
PenandKey
@Fair Economist: From what I’ve seen you’re probably right. It doesn’t sound like it was a worst-case emergency, but it’s unlikely to be a minor consideration to his continuing ability to campaign. The political side of my mind wants him to bow out now that he’s got an excuse to do so. The human side will still empathize with his health problems and wish him and his family the best. At the end of the day, though, he should take this as a sign and do the side he purportedly sides with a favor. If he doesn’t it’ll just be one more example of his continuing savior complex personality he’s displayed so often in the last few years.
Captain C
@Omnes Omnibus: Existed
Kent
@Barbara:
Arguably they are showing up in spades for Trump. The man is clearly turning senile.
Omnes Omnibus
@Chetan Murthy: I don’t really feel inclined to give Sanders credit for the leftward move of party standard bearers.
PenandKey
@Kent: In Trump’s case it very well could be an issue with senility catching up with him, but given that he clearly has some combination of extreme narcissism, ASPD, and a general low-level intelligence I think what we’re more seeing is both his inner workings being exposed more than he’s used to and a degradation of what little cunning he ever had.
As for actual heath problems? It’s hard to say, but he certainly doesn’t look like the “healthiest president ever” he claims.
Omnes Omnibus
@Bobby Thomson: Jesus Fucking Christ, not everyone who posts something you don’t like on this site is a troll/Russian bot.
People need to get a fucking grip.
PenandKey
@Omnes Omnibus: This site has had floods of gun nuts, Bros, and various trolls throughout the years. We’ve also been facing a widespread “conservative” social media psyop since before 2016. I’ve been guilty of being wrong when questioning how long a person has been here before, yes, but that doesn’t change the fact that it has happened. Not all of us have memorized the names of every regular or semi-regular patron of the site. It happens. Hell, it’s happened to me. It’ll either be corroborated by other readers or blow over like it always does.
Omnes Omnibus
@PenandKey: Fine, wildly accuse anyone whose comment you don’t like of being a troll. Put the burden on other people to correct you.
I’ve been here for a while too. You don’t have to explain to me the existence of trolls and bots.
PenandKey
@Omnes Omnibus: Apparently I do, because you’re kinda going off the rails on what is ultimately a minor issue. The accusations are annoying, yes, but they’re either easily shot down or ignored. I’ve personally made that mistake once because I legitimately didn’t recognize a name and their comment was needlessly inflammatory. I’ve also been accused of being a troll myself because one particular commenter was feeling particularly assholish and singled me out since she didn’t recognize me. It happens. People make mistakes. Move on.
Rand Careaga
Three years ago, following a summer of gradually ramping discomfort in my upper left quadrant, I contacted my physician and asked if I could come in for a consultation. Pro tip: unless you are prepared to forfeit all human agency, do not pronounce the words “chest pains” within earshot of medical personnel, even if you happen not to be experiencing these at that moment. Before I could say “Christiaan Barnard” I found myself, over my feeble protests, being lashed by burly paramedics onto a gurney for transport via ambulance to the hospital emergency room, approximately two hundred yards away (this despite the fact that I had walked a mile to my appointment).
Anyway, after a battery of tests it was determined that my principal cardiac arteries had silted up, and a few days later I found myself in an operating room for the first time since 1952 for the insertion of three stents, a procedure during which I was permitted to remain approximately awake, but blissfully zoned out on a pharmaceutical cocktail that I have chosen to remember as “happy juice,” which did not exactly prevent a degree of physical discomfort, but rather drained it of all emotional resonance.
The difference was night-and-day, and upon my discharge the following morning I felt like a new man. Not even the bullying character of the cardiologist who signed me out (he favored the “tough love” approach: “We call this artery ‘the widowmaker.’ Can you guess why? You’re an extremely lucky man. If you’d waited another two weeks, you’d likely have died,” et cetera) dampened my high spirits and retrieved vigor. I was well enough to officiate at a previously scheduled(!) funeral two days later, and to host a largish dinner party, also previously scheduled, at my home the day following.
All this to say: the stent installation isn’t necessarily a big thing, and while the Sage of Burlington is by no means my first or even third choice for—I was about to say “his party’s,” but of course he only uses it as a flag of convenience—nomination, I see no reason not to expect that he will make a speedy recovery, or not to wish this for him.
Ruckus
@Barbara:
They have. I raised them. Others have as well. Nothing specific like today but he is a 76 year old man. For a lot of people I know, including myself, 70ish is a common time for issues to surface. Issues with stress as a common factor. And he’s not asking for a stressful job, it’s not stressful at all. No not stressful at all…….
Steeplejack
@PenandKey:
I’m with Omnes. Calling someone a troll at the drop of a hat is not a minor “mistake,” it’s a deliberate attempt to shut someone down in an ad hominem way. You got called on this yesterday—and were given an easy way to check your assertions—and you’re sort of doubling down again today?! GTFO.
Maybe the site rebuild will have a Balloon Juice Smooth Jazz Lite section, where everybody agrees with everybody about everything.
smedley the uncertain
@BC in Illinois: As always, it varies by individual. I had my first stent in ’05 at age 67; a second and third subsequently. This year I’m just wrapping up my 22d year of single handed sailing a 26 foot boat on Lake Erie at 82 years of age. I enter local 5K events (and finish) and spend hours walking around our beautiful village. Do I think I could function as President? Probably not, But who’d want to… Get well BS and retire to the bucolic countryside of Vermont.
jk
As far as i know, Biden has no history of heart problems, but like Sanders he’s too fucking old to be President and he’s a gaffe gushering moron as well.
Richard Guhl
@phein60:
I offered no diagnosis nor prognosis on Sen. Sanders’ health.
What I am saying that those who have handwaved away concerns about his age with assertions about his vigor, now have an inconvenient data point in their argument, wonderful individual outcomes notwithstanding.
Three things concern me about the campaign announcement —
1). There wasn’t a flat out affirmation that he didn’t experience a coronary infarction;
2). The fact that they admitted he did have chest pains;
3). The somewhat vague and open-ended statement about how long he’ll be off the campaign trail.
I’m old enough to remember the anxiety that is thrown into the political system when a sitting President (Eisenhower) has some serious health problems.
laura
@ronin122: takes one to know one. No one’s calling for his death by the way. Most of us would prefer a Democrat candidate to represent the democratic party, and many, but not all would prefer a younger candidate.
Climb down off the cross, we can use the wood for Pete’s sake.
Danny
I have read this site for many years(8+ years). It now seems to be taken over by feminists, whom only care about gender.
karen marie
@ronin122: I don’t think we’re reading the same comment thread.
sherparick
@[Individual 1] mistermix: First, I hope Senator Sanders gets well. But neither he or VP Biden should be in the race at their current age. I am only 15 years younger and all I want is my rocking chair. Sanders will be 79 with a life expectancy of only 8 years (as I understand life expectancy, that means 50% of the men who are currently 79 or 78 will be dead in 8 to 9 years). Accept your mortality and pass it on. Warren is pretty much at the maximum age.
David ??Merry Christmas?? Koch
spending 30 years in Washington, doing nothing, really took a toll on Wilmer
Kosh III
I supported Bernie in 16 but he’s too old now. I eat right, sleep right and am an avid hiker/kayaker but at 68 I know I don’t have the energy for such a tough job as POTUS. Bernie should take this opportunity to bow out and throw his support to Warren, Harris, Yang or Buttigieg.