The source of this article is The Miami Herald: http://tinyurl.com/5ngy5

Congressman Lane Evans' Parkinson's disease finds his health an issue in campaign

SHARON COHEN

Associated Press


CORDOVA, Ill. - His walk is a bit stiff, his voice is soft and his words are sometimes a bit slurred, but as U.S. Rep. Lane Evans wades through a crowd of supporters this night, he is eager to deliver a message.

The country band, "The Posse," stops playing and the drinks stop flowing as Evans takes the microphone. The congressman has heard the whispers - that after nine years of fighting Parkinson's disease, he should call it quits.

That, he says, is not going to happen. He's still primed for a fight.

"I may be slow," he says with a slight smile, "but I know which way to go."

The blue-jean crowd, perched on long benches, stands and cheers. These are die-hard Democrats: union members, seniors, a few farmers. Some are wearing 'Thank Heavens for Lane Evans' T-shirts. They all know the congressman is ill. They insist it doesn't matter.

But Evans' health has been a campaign issue ever since his Republican opponent, Andrea Zinga, announced her candidacy and declared she was "sorry to report" the congressman no longer has the physical stamina for the job.

"I don't see how you can do a job as strenuous as being an advocate for people night and day when your health is a preoccupation," says Zinga, a former CNN and local television anchor and reporter.

Zinga says the No. 1 issue in the race is jobs, and she blames the 11-term congressman for not doing enough to keep high-paying manufacturing jobs in the district. But it's also legitimate, she says, to call attention to Evans' health.

"This has nothing to do with disabled people," she says. "It has everything to do with one man doing one job."

A candidate's health rarely surfaces as a campaign issue and the pointed questions about Evans' illness have angered some supporters and stirred debate among others about what role a medical condition should play in an election.

Evans says having Parkinson's - a progressive neurological disease - does not define him as a private citizen or a public official.

"I'm a former Marine," he says. "I come from a Catholic upbringing and a working-class family. Those things say much more about me than some illness I have."

Evans, who still has a boyish face at age 53, says his battle with Parkinson's has made him more aware of the shortcomings of the nation's health care system.

"What it taught me is there are a lot of people who are falling through the cracks and can't afford the medications that I can as a member of Congress," he says. "I was exposed to a lot of this for the first time. ... It made me a person who understands a lot more than I used to. I've learned a lot from it."

While Evans' health has been raised gingerly in previous campaigns, this is the first time it has been addressed so directly. Whether it will be a successful strategy remains to be seen.

Larry Sabato, a political scientist at the University of Virginia and expert on campaigns, doesn't think so.

"If anything, it'll backfire," he says. "Health can be an issue in presidential races and it should be. For Congress, no. Goodness, I think most people admire Lane for fighting on and for continuing his work ... despite his serious illness."

But Tom Getz, chairman of the Rock Island County Republican Party, believes Zinga is justified in mentioning Evans' medical condition.

"I think a lot of people, even loyal Democrats, do feel that Lane isn't up to the job anymore," he says. "He refused to debate her. People want to know why. We know why."

Evans says he debates all the time in Congress and doesn't want to lend credibility to his opponent's "bigotry."

Zinga doesn't buy it: A candidate, she says, "should be eager to debate - to share their agenda and their record."

Evans was diagnosed with Parkinson's in 1995. He didn't go public for three years, worried the revelation would stigmatize him.

About 1.5 million Americans have Parkinson's, which is marked by rigid movement, tremors, speech and balance problems. It can also "freeze" facial expressions, making it hard to smile. It does not affect mental abilities, though in its latter stages, it can cause confusion.

Public figures such as Pope John Paul II, boxing legend Muhammad Ali, actor Michael J. Fox and former U.S. Attorney General Janet Reno have Parkinson's. One congressman, Morris Udall of Arizona, was diagnosed with the illness in 1979 and continued to serve in the House until 1991, when he resigned for health reasons. He died seven years later.

Evans says he first realized something was wrong with him when he attended a parade in Galesburg, Ill., and could not wave his left hand.

In the nearly 10 years since, Parkinson's has worn away at his body: Evans no longer drives and has trouble with hand-eye coordination. He needs extra time to get out of a car and often a helping hand to get up from a chair. He also works with a speech therapist weekly.

Still, he insists his illness "doesn't prevent me from doing my job 365 days a year."

He says he still runs twice a week and remains active: On this Saturday, he points out he left Washington, D.C., at 5:30 a.m., attended a rally, then traveled three hours to appear at a fund-raiser 14 hours later in the civic center in this tiny town in far western Illinois.

Evans pressed the flesh, posed for photos and greeted a fellow ex-Marine with "Semper Fi" and a playful clenched-fist jab in the chest. But he quickly retreated to a chair, sometimes sitting alone in the crowd, though a steady stream of supporters stopped by to greet him.

Some loyalists are annoyed his health is even on the campaign radar.

"You can discuss the issues, you can discuss the voting record, but you don't get down to the health," says Al Decap, a longtime supporter. "That's dirty. But that's politics."

But Zinga, who is making her first bid for office, says it takes considerable energy to serve the 17th district, which stretches across nearly 8,300 square miles and includes all or part of 23 counties.

The district - whose boundaries were redrawn four years ago and leans Democratic - is a blend of farm fields and blue-collar towns that have been home to manufacturing giants such as Deere & Co. and Maytag, which recently shut down its last assembly line in Galesburg.

Zinga, who is about to turn 55, says in her year of campaigning, she has attended hundreds of events but has rarely crossed paths with her opponent.

"Where is he?" she asks. "I've seen him fewer than a dozen times."

Evans' office says he has held 23 town meetings this year and his attendance record in Congress in 2003 was 98 percent.

The two candidates disagree on many key issues.

Evans, the ranking Democrat on the House Veterans' Affairs Committee, opposed the Iraq war and supports stem cell research - which advocates say could lead to a cure for Parkinson's. Labor unions, including the United Auto Workers, are among his strongest supporters.

Zinga sides with President Bush on the war and has won the backing of the National Rifle Association, the Illinois Farm Bureau and the Illinois Federation for Right to Life.

While Zinga hopes to replace Evans, she says she isn't necessarily advocating his retirement.

"I'm not saying the man can't work," she says. "He presumably has a body of knowledge from his years in Congress. He is able to be a lobbyist or a consultant."

But Evans sees his future in just one place - Congress.

He says his work and supporters keep him going.

"I live for this job," he says. "I would give it up very reluctantly. And I don't see it happening, unless it's the ballot box - or the pine box."

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