One thing I’ve learned is that sometimes the most interesting political moments are those caught on tape but edited out of the sound bite. There are a lot of different versions of McCain’s response to the question about the fairness of insurance companies covering Viagra but not birth control (McCain voted against requiring companies to cover contraception by the way) on YouTube. But I think the ones that include more of the back and forth are the most telling.
What’s interesting is that, as Washington Post columnist Dana Milbank points out, this all started at a breakfast hosted by the Christian Science Monitor: Carly Fiorina, the former Hewlett-Packard chief who is now the Republican National Committee’s “Victory Chairman,” was discussing consumer-driven health insurance at a breakfast with reporters when she proposed “a real, live example which I’ve been hearing a lot about from women: There are many health insurance plans that will cover Viagra but won’t cover birth-control medication. Those women would like a choice.” For effect, the woman frequently mentioned as a possible McCain running mate repeated: “Those women would like a choice.”
Apparently Fiorina didn’t realize that Senator McCain had voted against requiring insurance companies to cover birth control. At least twice!
And for the record, yes … we’d like a choice!
