Cindy McCain and the handshake from hell
One of the physical challenges of life on the campaign trail is all that handshaking. Especially during flu season. It's enough to turn you into Monk.
Cindy McCain apparently had her own crushing encounter on a handshake line this morning -- a powerful grip that aggravated an existing problem with carpal tunnel syndrome that sent her to a Detroit-area hospital for a look-see.
The diagnosis, according to the local reports: A slight sprain. She was treated and released. The campaign statement from campaign spokeswoman Jill Hazelbaker: "During the rope line, an enthusiastic supporter shook Mrs. McCain’s hand and exacerbated an existing condition. Out of an abundance of caution, she decided to leave the event and visit the local hospital for X-rays where she was treated for a minor sprain. We appreciate everyone’s concern and she is back on the campaign trail now."
The event was at the Shenandoah Banquet, Golf and Conference Center in West Bloomfield, the Detroit suburb where Mitt Romney grew up. We presume he has an alibi.
-- Scott Martelle
Andrew Malcolm's immigrant parents repeatedly stressed the importance of active participation in a democracy. Early lessons included learning the alphabetical list of states by watching televised roll calls of national political conventions. That childhood exposure led to a lifelong fascination with politics, including 40-plus years of covering them and a brief stint practicing them as press secretary to Laura Bush in 1999-2000. A veteran foreign and national correspondent, Malcolm served on the Times Editorial Board and was a Pulitzer finalist in 2004. He is the author of 10 nonfiction books and father of four.
Johanna Neuman is a veteran Washington correspondent for both The Los Angeles Times and USA Today, having covered presidents and politics as far back as Ronald Reagan. A former president of the White House Correspondents Assn., she authored a book on media and foreign policy, “Lights, Camera, Wars.” Most recently she was co-author of the 
Subscribe to this Blog
awww poor baby
Posted by: alan | August 13, 2008 at 02:25 PM
Sounds like she'll be needing some painkillers!
Posted by: adam | August 13, 2008 at 02:37 PM
oh poor darling, someone shook her dainty hand too hard. I wonder what made he hand so fragile? Typing? i don't know...
Posted by: herb | August 13, 2008 at 02:41 PM
A trio of unbelievable A-Hole comments. No doubt they were made by Obama supporters. No brains, no wit, no class.
Posted by: v racer | August 13, 2008 at 03:07 PM
Can John McCain continue to paint Obama as an elitist when MILLIONS of Americans can't get treatment for medical issues as serious as cancer, heart problems, diabetes and even severe trauma (let alone the minor trauma of a sprain) while his wife trots off to the hospital when someone squeezes her hand too hard? What a perfect example of how out of touch the McCain's truly are that they don't even mention what a PRIVILEGE it is to be able to receive medical treatment for this minor ailment.
Posted by: Americant | August 13, 2008 at 03:21 PM
Every adult knows you don't shakes hands with a women as strongly as you do with a man. The person that did this should be forced to suffer through a handshake line thousands long, just to see what it feels like.
To Cindy McCain, bravo that your campaign workers could find an open hospital in the hell hole called Detroit.
Posted by: Figgins | August 13, 2008 at 06:16 PM
maybe this had nothing to do with a handshake.
she looks like an abused wife to me. look at the way her arm is wrapped -- this is not from a handshake in my opinion -- she doesn't look like a very happy person -- he is probably a real jerk to like with.
Posted by: obama supporter | August 15, 2008 at 09:09 AM