OPINION

What if Democrats nominate Sanders and he has another heart attack? What if it happens in public or in a TV debate? Would we hand Trump another term?

Kurt Bardella | Opinion columnist

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Three months after suffering a heart attack, the Democrats’ oldest candidate for president, Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, released a statement from his doctor declaring that “he has the mental and physical stamina to fully undertake the rigors of the presidency.”

By all accounts, this is the most important election of our lifetime. Poll after poll shows that for Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents, the priority is on selecting a nominee who has “the best chance of beating President Donald Trump.”

Given that, I am moved to ask this simple question: Do Democrats really believe that the best chance to defeat Trump lies with a 78-year-old who has already suffered a heart attack?

Right now, the answer may be yes. Sanders is at or near the top of this month's polls nationally and in early states such as Iowa and New Hampshire. Let me be clear, my concern has nothing to do with Sanders’ politics or policies, or whether he’s too left to win over voters in Ohio, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. While those are legitimate grounds for discussion, it would be irresponsible and naive to ignore the issue of his health and what that can mean for the campaign, particularly if Sanders becomes the Democratic nominee.

Sanders would be a gift to Republicans

At the risk of incurring the online wrath of the “Bernie Bros” who might point out that former Vice President Joe Biden is 77, the fact is that 1 in 5 people who have a heart attack will be readmitted for another one within five years of their first. According to the American Heart Association, there are about 335,000 recurrent heart attacks in the United States each year.

And none of those 335,000 incidents happened to people who were under the stress of running for president of the United States. Stress is an important word here. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, recovering from a heart attack should include making “lifestyle changes” such as “managing stress.”

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Undeterred, Sanders has forged ahead. He even raised a staggering $34.5 million in the final months of 2019 — proof that despite his heart attack, his supporters are as enthusiastic as ever.

Even so, there's a risk with Sanders that Democratic voters simply cannot ignore. A YouGov/The Economist survey taken in the aftermath of the heart attack showed that 66% of Democratic primary voters agreed that Sanders’ health was a “legitimate issue.”

We know that Trump and his Republican accomplices are using every advantage of their power to procure a second term. From soliciting opposition research help from foreign powers to purging voter rolls and using widespread voter suppression tactics, team Trump is actively tipping the scales of democracy in his favor.

Under these circumstances, why would Democrats give Republicans the gift of a nominee whose health could derail the campaign at any moment?

AP, AP

Asking questions is not ageist

In making the monumental decision to choose who is best to challenge and defeat Trump, we need to ask some uncomfortable questions. What happens if Sanders becomes the nominee and then suffers another heart attack? What if this time, the heart attack happens in public? What if it happens during a televised debate? Will such an incident effectively hand Trump a second term?

These are questions that deserve and warrant thoughtful discussion. Raising them doesn’t make you an “ageist,” it makes you responsible. For the Sanders’ contingent who might be reading this, remember, he has called for you to “engage respectfully.”

It is entirely possible that Sanders continues through the 2020 campaign without any further health incident. That is the outcome we are all hoping for. However, medical science tells us there is at least a possibility this might not be the case. If the worst-case scenario happens and Sanders suffers a repeat heart incident, what is the plan?

The responsible move is for Sanders to address these scenarios head-on and put forward a contingency plan for the worst case. The voters deserve candidates who hold themselves to the highest standards of transparency, especially when it comes to their health. Democrats deserve to know whether there is a plan to handle what could be a seismic event that shifts the course and potentially the outcome of the presidential contest.

Ultimately, voters will weigh these risks for themselves. But as they do, they should have as much information as possible.

Kurt Bardella is a member of USA TODAY’s Board of Contributors. Follow him on Twitter: @kurtbardella

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