Nicholas B. Jackson

Sean at Cosmic Variance, a group blog I subscribe to that is written by a handful of physicists, wrote an entry yesterday that attacks the presumptive nominee’s stance on the cause of autism.

ABC reported that at a town hall meeting in Texas late last week McCain “declared that ‘there’s strong evidence’ that … a mercury-based preservative that was once in many childhood vaccines, is responsible for the increased diagnoses of autism in the U.S. — a position in stark contrast with the view of the medical establishment.”

No. Not true. Anybody who has studied autism and its causes for more than 30 seconds can point out the flaws in this statement. Jake Tapper, who wrote the story for ABC, did his homework:

The established medical community is not as divided as McCain made it sound, however. Overwhelmingly the “credible scientists,” at least as the government and the medical establishment so ordain them, side against McCain’s view.

Moreover, those scientists and organizations fear that powerful people lending credence to the thimerosal theory could dissuade parents from getting their children immunized — which in their view would lead to a very real health crisis.

Who needs immunization when they have lucky charms, though. And I’m not talking about the cereal. Going back to an old Washington Post article from a few weeks ago, Cosmic Variance pulled these passages:

“I’m wearing my lucky shoes from today till Sunday,” McCain says from his bus on Wednesday. At the moment, his pockets contain the compass, feather (from a tribal leader) and penny (flattened, in his wallet). When McCain once misplaced his feather, there was momentary panic in the campaign, until his wife found it in one of his suits. When the compass went missing once, McCain assigned his political director to hunt it down. Weaver found it, and it remains safe, knock wood.

Primary day requires additional rituals. By the time you read this, Steve Dart, McCain’s lucky friend, should have arrived in South Carolina from California. He has been present with McCain for every Election Day since McCain first won a seat in Congress. McCain must sleep on a certain side of the bed, particularly before an election (and he never puts a hat on a bed–bad luck). Rain is good for Election Day, as are motion pictures. McCain requires himself to view a movie before the vote is counted. He fell asleep in his hotel room in New Hampshire before he watched a movie on primary day, but his staff didn’t panic. “We have superstition fire walls,” says Todd Harris, a spokesman.

• Originally published: Texas Monthly 2008.03.04