By Anna Griffin, The Oregonian
April 29, 2010,
You’re a candidate for major public office. You suffer from a debilitating physical condition. You’re running against a guy who looks and acts like the Marlboro Man, if the Marlboro Man fought cancer instead of encouraging it.
Do you downplay your health problems. Highlight them?
Bill Bradbury figures he doesn’t have a choice. When he was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis 30 years ago, the symptoms were barely noticeable. When he ran for the senate in 2002, the only sign was a minor limp. Bradbury scoffed then at suggestions that he talk much about it.
Today, the Democratic gubernatorial candidate has enough trouble controlling his leg muscles that he uses a Segway scooter to get around. The slow progression of the illness is obvious enough that there was almost no debate within his campaign about making the condition, in which a person’s immune system attacks the insulation around their nerves, a centerpiece of his TV and radio campaigns.