It's powerful, and my thoughts and prayers go out to Michael J. Fox and other sufferers.

If there were any actual evidence that EMBRYONIC stem cell research held any hope of a cure for him or others, it would be even more powerful.

The ad is very well done. But, call me a cynic, I don't think his condition is quite as advanced as the ad may make it appear.

Don't be surprised if you see Mr. Fox in the near future looking a little better than he does in this ad.

I thought it was adult stem cells that are showing promise. Maybe he'd be cured already if Kedwards was elected. Oh and isn't he Canadian?

ANd notice that since St. Louis is in the World Series, a contentious stem cell vote is on the ballot in MO, and Talent is in a tight race, it seems like a perfect storm.

My dad was diagnosed with Parkinson's Disease in 1991, so this issue hits me where I live.
To date, the most significant and promising research has been done with umbilical stem cells and adult stem cells. Could it be that taking stem cells from LIVING tissue instead of dead babies works better? Embryonic stem cell research is a dead end. In more ways than one.

That's pretty dispicable to suggest. I've seen him look bad recently (although not quite this bad) but haven't seen him in at least 4-6 months. It's not a good condition, and whether or not you support stem-cell research, it's pretty insensitive to suggest that he would do that. He's not some partisan hack (most of whom wouldn't even stoop to that level). To my knowledge this is the only issue he's outspoken on and rightfully so. Excuse him for wanting some hope.

No one can say for sure that stem-cell research will cure Parkinsons or any other disease. But how can we not try? For the millions who suffer and the tens of millions of their friends and family, how can we not give it our best effort?

This "moral" argument is complete bogus on this issue. It's not like we're cloning to get these extra cells. The cells used are going to be thrown out anyway. This is not disputed. So if they're going literally in the garbage anyway, why not use them for research purposes???

SST--My heart goes out to you, but with all due respect, you're not a scientist? Scientists overwhelmingly (although obviously not unanimously) support the possibility that embryonic stem-cell research COULD help to provide cures for a number of diseases, one of which is Parkinsons. Again, the cells are going in the garbage anyway, how can we not try?

(And just as a sidenote--even if we took cells that weren't going in the garbage, hello, they're individual stem-cells!! They're called "stem" cells cause they're so early in the development process, that we can't yet determine what kind of cells they're going to be. If you think THAT'S murder, next time you cut your fingernails, hold a funeral.)

btw, what does the cards in the ws have to do w/politics???

This is what Fox looks like when he doesn't take his meds. When you see him on celeb appearances, he has very carefully timed his meds so that his involuntary motion is at a minimum. It's not a ruse or an acting job.

Harkyman,
I hope you are not right. If he uses his meds to control his condition for other public appearances, but would purposely not take it so as to look more sympathetic in this ad in order to play on emotions, I would find that upsetting because I have always liked Fox.

I was not insinuating anything like that in my post, it never even occured to me. I was just commenting about how much it appeared his condition had worsened since the last time I saw him.

Lorie--that would not be faking anything. Excuse him for loading himself up on meds if necessary to continue his career as long as he possibly can continue to do what he's always loved to do.

And excuse him for letting people see the truth. Just because conservatives don't want to acknowledge it doesn't make it untrue--parkinsons and many other diseases COULD be cured from stem-cell research. They could also NOT be cured--but why not try?!

Obviously no one has responded to my comment about the fact that the only cells used are ones that would be discarded anyway.

This is good. I assume it means that people unfortunately believed the propoganda (which they were told was fact) that stem-cell research is cloning/murder/etc. Rather, cells that will literally be tossed in the garbage are used for research purposes.

I hate to tell the Anchoress this, but in fact Jim Talent was a co-sponsor of a Sam Brownback bill to completely ban all stem cell research. He only backed out when it was becoming obvious how much of a political liability it was becoming.

As far as comments about embryonic stem cell research versus adult stem cells, it must be remembered that adult stem cells were isolated and have had research being done on them about 40 years ago versus 8 years ago for embryonic stem cells. It takes time. Anyone who says that we must know now what the results are going to be before we can justify the research shows how little they know about how any scientific research works. The federal government is the largest single provider of research funds for basic research.

Lorie -- late back to this thread, but it most likely is the case. My wife was watching an E! show about Fox's career, and I was working/paying partial attention throughout. I distinctly remember him saying at one point that he went off his meds when he appeared before Congress so they could see the actual magnitude of his condition.

I don't fault Fox for showing people what he really looks like, but maybe next time Republicans could get him to do a nice commercial for the pro-market forces whose R&D brought him his drugs in the first place.

I hate to tell the Anchoress this, but in fact Jim Talent was a co-sponsor of a Sam Brownback bill to completely ban all stem cell research. He only backed out when it was becoming obvious how much of a political liability it was becoming.

Senator Talent withdrew support from Senator Brownback's and Senator Landreiu's bill to completely ban all human cloning -- not stem cell research -- because he believed -- incorrectly, as it turns out -- that it would also ban Altered Nuclear Transfer (ANT). It is certainly clear that McCaskill's ad is deliberately designed to confuse and mislead voters. I will refrain from assigning intent to Jim S's comment but will say that his comment fits a clear rhetorical pattern from embryonic stem cell research supporters. Coincidence or not? You decide.