Tanning salon owners believe U.S. Senator John McCain would be the presidential candidate most receptive to a balanced message about UV light and vitamin D, according to a SmartTan.com poll conducted in October. According to the poll, 59 percent think McCain would better champion a balanced UV message, compared to 41 percent for Obama.

The results might be surprising to those who point out that McCain’s well-documented cases of melanoma – most likely related to his years of sunburn suffered as a fair-skinned prisoner of war in sun-drenched Vietnam – might make him anti-UV. But McCain’s Republican Party is more widely viewed as being opposed to unnecessary regulation.

“We believe that both candidates – given the universal desire to reduce health care costs – would be receptive to the power of the vitamin D message, now that higher vitamin D levels are strongly associated with lower disease incidence,” Smart Tan Vice President Joseph Levy said. “UVB is nature’s most prolific and most natural source of vitamin D.”