McCain gets ‘nervous’ when asked about his opposition to insurance-provided birth control.
McCain gets ‘nervous’ when asked about his opposition to insurance-provided birth control.
Earlier this week, one of Sen. John McCain’s (R-AZ) top advisers, Carly Fiorina, argued for McCain’s free-market approach to health care by noting that “there are many health insurance plans that will cover Viagra but won’t cover birth-control medication” and that many “women would like a choice.” But, as ThinkProgress noted, Fiorina’s argument was undermined by McCain’s 2003 vote against legislation that would have required insurance coverage of prescription birth control. When asked about the disconnect on his campaign bus today, McCain nervously replied, “I certainly do not want to discuss that issue“:
Q: Earlier this week Carly Fiorina was meeting with a bunch of reporters and talked about it being unfair that insurance companies cover Viagra but not birth control. And -
McCain: I certainly do not want to discuss that issue. (uneasy laughter)
Q: But apparently you’ve voted against (McCain laughter continues)
McCain: I don’t know what I voted -
Q: Voted against coverage of birth control, forcing health insurance companies to cover birth control in the past. Is that still your position?
McCain: I’ll look at my voting record on it, but I have, uh, (5 second pause) , I don’t recall the vote right now. But I’ll be glad to look at it and get back to you as to why, I don’t -
Q: I guess her statement was that it was unfair that health insurance companies cover Viagra but not birth control. Do you have an opinion on that?
McCain: (after 8 second pause) I don’t know enough about it to give you an informed answer because I don’t recall the vote, I’ve cast thousands of votes in the Senate. I will respond to - it’s a, it’s a (nervous)
McCain’s stumbling answer is reminiscent of when he was asked in March 2007 about public funding for contraceptives and he could only reply, “whether I support government funding for them or not, I don’t know.”
UPDATE: MSNBC’s Morning Joe showed video of McCain’s answer this morning:
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47 Responses to “McCain gets ‘nervous’ when asked about his opposition to insurance-provided birth control.”
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We've just had one jester for 8 years....do we really want another one?
July 9th, 2008 at 10:19 pmMemory Loss??
The beginning stages of Alzheimer's Disease???
July 9th, 2008 at 10:31 pmHe's lost without Lieberman whispering in his ear.
July 9th, 2008 at 10:35 pmMcCain didn't get nervous, he just doesn't like women taking birth control pills. It stops them from having unwanted babies that he refuses to spend government money on to take care of once they have them. Doesn't that make sense to you? Lets force women to have unwanted babies and then refuse to give them any assistance to help provide for them. After all he's anti abortion, what do you expect? This is standard Republican thinking. It's just like starting a war and then not knowing what to do next. Or like spying without a warrant. It made sense to them at the time, it's just what happens next that bothers them. They think that if you throw a stone into water it doesn't cause ripples.
July 9th, 2008 at 10:36 pm"buh, buh, buh,
birth control pills?"
*
July 9th, 2008 at 10:41 pm"I know I have an opinion on that: I've got it written down somewhere."
July 9th, 2008 at 10:48 pmOMG He's Monty Python's Upper Class Twit of the Year in the flesh!
We need to make the media report this fact. We need to start an e-mail campaign until they relent and report this. This issue effects every women in the country that's children bearing age. I'm sure all of those conservatives that are cheating on their wives want to have illegitimate children by their girlfriends and those nasty hookers they sleep with. Please join me in an e-mail campaign to make the media accurately report the facts as they are. The NY Times, MSNBC, CBS, ABC, and CNN all need to be contacted. Don't bother with Fox news they are a propaganda machine for the Republicans. Please asked 5 friends to e-mail them as well. Let's see if they report this story.
July 9th, 2008 at 10:55 pm.
I can see it now...
"I don't know who I appointed..."
"I don't know what I vetoed..."
"I don't know what our foreign policy is..."
"I don't know... and I don't recall..."
.
July 9th, 2008 at 11:01 pmjudging by
that picture
i'd say it looks
like he just found
out that his
mistress hasn't been
taking them.
*
good luck.
$
July 9th, 2008 at 11:02 pmReal answer: I can't recall my lie.
Not only is mcchimpy chimpy's 3rd term through regurgitated failed policies but also his soullessly useless logic.
July 9th, 2008 at 11:06 pmwhat we really need now
is jabberdraw to come
by and demand that tp
swear that the picture of
mcsame hasn't been photoshopped.
c'mon jabber, don't let us down!!!
*
thank you.
&
July 9th, 2008 at 11:16 pmSomehow, I am getting the feeling that the GOP has found a candidate less fit to command this nation than their previous offering. Miracles will never cease to amaze me!
July 9th, 2008 at 11:24 pmAwww, but isn't he a cute, little old man. Yeah, that's what a portion of the electorate will swallow.
July 9th, 2008 at 11:28 pmMcCain't will be toast in any debate against Barack Obama...unless, of course, the moderator is someone from Faux News.
July 9th, 2008 at 11:30 pmhmmm...so you're running for President and you don't know how you voted on an issue that is very important to women? You say you want to make health care and health insurance a major issue and you don't know how you voted on a very important health care issue? What's that you missed a major health care vote in the Senate today? Yeah, we'll be in touch, thanks for stopping by.
July 9th, 2008 at 11:42 pmOkay, maybe he can't recall his specific vote, but does he really need time to know what he believes on the issue? We're talking policy and opinion... it's not rocket science, old man.
PEACE
July 9th, 2008 at 11:59 pmAge isn't McCain's problem--the man is an idiot.
July 10th, 2008 at 12:02 amFirst, they'll destroy Roe v Wade.
Then Griswold v Connecticut, the decision that legalized birth control. That's their goal, and McCain will do it.
July 10th, 2008 at 12:09 amNow THERE'S a man with the courage of his convictions.
July 10th, 2008 at 12:14 amHe doesn't want to talk about the subject; he can't remember how he voted -- (he wasn't asked how he voted, he was asked his opinion -- he doesn't have one -- at least not one that he felt safe to reply) -- he has to check with his handlers first.
Yesterday a vet asked him why he voted against the veterans'health bills in 2003,4,5,6,7 -- McCain turned it into the Webb GI Bill (education) took credit for it -- said Webb's bill was flawed. The guy persisted -- said veterans groups provided the stats on McCain's record on veterans' health, McCain continued to deny the facts, and claimed the vet had his own version of the facts.
How can any thinking person even consider voting for this guy.
McDinosaur: "I don't recall Central Park in fall... Funny, I don't recall anything at all..."
July 10th, 2008 at 12:18 amDamn - poor Ejection Seat Johnnie . . . can't remember his vote or his position . . . musta bumped his head on the way out . . .
July 10th, 2008 at 12:19 amNo one ever speaks of McCain's abysmal military record -- from the academy to service. He was a F~ckup; poor student, crashed 5 planes. I am sorry he was a POW, but that was 40 years ago and he is an old, feeble man now who can't think straight.
July 10th, 2008 at 12:25 amYou get a lot to like with a McMarlboro: filterless, flavorless, flip-top-lid...
July 10th, 2008 at 12:36 amWhy would he have to go look and what he voted when they're telling him what he voted? lol
July 10th, 2008 at 12:37 amJohn "Sacrificial" McLamb
We must never forget what he can't remember.
July 10th, 2008 at 12:41 amOld man Johnny has lost it all-together, he does not know whether to flip or flop on this one!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
July 10th, 2008 at 1:27 ammcchimpy doesn't care about other people's cultures, ethnicity, languages, their rights, heritage or their property rights;
Liars, frauds, they can't waste their time making their war as specific as possible; chimpy's war is a vague war. chimpy is wrong and despicable.
"war on terror" = shoot any brown life, any place where there's oil.
repugs are no nothings
July 10th, 2008 at 2:51 amMcCain: Send Iran lead-based hookah pipes from China
July 10th, 2008 at 3:44 amOoh, it makes McCain all flustered talking about women's health.
Quick! Flash pictures of the inner workings of female anatomy in front of him! He won't be able to talk OR remember anything for days!
Joking aside..>_> McCain doesn't know much about his ownself, how the heck can we trust him to know anything about anything else either?
July 10th, 2008 at 3:50 amThe more I look at McCain as their candidate the more I believe they don't plan to allow an election and have had an alternate plan all along. He's probably a pre-election puppet.
July 10th, 2008 at 4:02 amThis government must be flushed and if I'm not mistaken it is our right to do so.
If James Stockdale (Ross Perot’s running mate in 1992) were still around, wouldn’t Stockdale be the perfect running mate for McCain? They would surely be nicknamed the Dynamic Duo.
The following two paragraphs are excerpted from a New York Times article about Stockdale, which can be found at:
http://www.nytimes.com/ 2005/ 07/ 06/ politics/ 06stockdale.html?ex=1278302400&en=b4e623b4d2f9c48c&ei=5088&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss.
A winner of the Medal of Honor, Admiral Stockdale was shot down over North Vietnam on Sept. 9, 1965. He spent seven and a half years as a prisoner, four of them in solitary confinement. While a prisoner, he organized a culture of defiance among his fellow captives, including another naval aviator, John McCain, who went on to become a senator from Arizona and a presidential candidate.
Admiral Stockdale seemed out of his league in the debate with the major party vice presidential candidates, Dan Quayle and Al Gore. He startled the audience and those watching on television with his opening remarks: “Who am I? Why am I here?”
July 10th, 2008 at 4:13 amHopefully McCain moves to the middle on this one and supports the inclusion of birth control in health insurance coverage.
As I argue in my latest book, "Leading From the Center: Why Moderates Make the Best Presidents," (www.leadingfromthecenter.com), America’s greatest presidents were maestros of moderation, who understood that the trick to effective leadership in a democracy is finding the middle, or creating a new middle.
Americans have a tradition of muscular moderation, and if we don’t figure out how to push our candidates towards the centre, rather than to the poles, we are going to deeply regret it.
July 10th, 2008 at 5:08 amIt's a Ronnie Raygun redux
July 10th, 2008 at 6:45 amDeja vu anyone?
How convenient not to remember how you vote. I'm glad he doesn't clutter up his remaining dementia addled brain with relevant current events like his voting record.
How about a 25th trimester abortion for Mcbush
Grumpy Old Grandad...
July 10th, 2008 at 7:52 am"Nervous?" It's called the withdraw shakes. It nothing he can do about it but I wouldn't take his head shaking as a yes or no answer. I would need a verbal answer from mcchimpy to confirm his position. Oh wait...he lies verbally too.
Why would decent people vote for this nut?
July 10th, 2008 at 7:54 amIt is difficult to imagine why McCain thinks he is presidential material when he cannot come up with a reasonable response to this simple question.
Not only are his policies reminiscent of G.W.B.; he might have a similar intellect.
July 10th, 2008 at 8:04 amOur hero John here just couldn't remember what his handlers told him to say about this issue. He knows by now that his own opinions mean nothing. He couldn't figure out what he was supposed to say. Maybe they didn't cover the issue with him.
He's not ignorant, he's just your normal Repugnant tool.
July 10th, 2008 at 8:52 amIs it asking too much that a presidential candidate just tell us what he thinks without having to refer to some cheat sheet telling him what he's supposed to think?
I miss the "maverick" -- the senator of a decade ago who had principled positions that he stood by regardless of what drumbeat the rest of his party marched to. Even though I didn't agree with all of his positions, I could have some respect for him. Now it seems that every last trace of that "maverick" has been completely wiped out.
Why the Republicans support this paper doll is beyond me.
July 10th, 2008 at 8:56 amJaneaneTheAcerbicGoblin Says
July 10th, 2008 at 12:09 am
First, they’ll destroy Roe v Wade.
Then Griswold v Connecticut, the decision that legalized birth control. That’s their goal, and McCain will do it.
____________________________________________________________
Yep -- ban abortion and all birth control and we'll look just like Ceausescu's Romania, with a ton of unwanted babies languishing in orphanages. We'll then become Adoption Central for the rest of the world, as Romania did.
Perhaps this is the agenda -- looking for a new export. This is more than pathetic, and all wrong for America.
July 10th, 2008 at 9:02 amGame of Life Says:
Why would decent people vote for this nut?
They won't. Only Republicans will.
July 10th, 2008 at 9:15 amJaneaneTheAcerbicGoblin Says:
First, they’ll destroy Roe v Wade.
Then Griswold v Connecticut, the decision that legalized birth control. That’s their goal, and McCain will do it.
Then they'll force me to get my vasectomy un-done and make ME pay for it :)~
July 10th, 2008 at 10:14 amAt last, some real "Straight Talk"--"I certainly do not want to discuss that issue“!!!!
July 10th, 2008 at 10:19 amThis man actually was elected to represent?
Who the fcuk voted for this nit-wit?
Anyway, he's a perfect example of the government we deserve, not what we demand.
July 10th, 2008 at 10:24 amMake sure all McCain supporters Google: "The wife U. S.
July 10th, 2008 at 1:35 pmRepublican John McCain callously left behind."
Make sure all McCain supporters Google: "The wife U. S.
July 10th, 2008 at 1:36 pmRepublican John McCain callously left behind."
McCain doesn't have opinions...he has handlers, meds and scripts, just like Duh Bush. In this instance, he just couldn't remember what he was supposed to say (maybe his earphone was malfunctioning) so he reached into the grab bag of his brain and picked 'ignorance' as his distinguished answer to an important question. In theater, he would have whispered, "Prompt!"
No doubt, he's dumber than Bush which is a world record in itself. His straight talk comes directly from a mind that is no longer functioning. His decaying claim to being a maverick, an 'original,' is now supported only by his practice of consistently and shamelessly making a totally new ass out of himself in public every few days.
McCain might get elected to the board of Trustees at some small church but would be considered a nuisance even at that level of responsibility; but he's visibly not in any shape mentally, even socially, to be President of the United States.
Let him continue to ramble incoherently on teevee. It's a good thing for Democrats, who need a good thing after voting for FISA.
July 10th, 2008 at 6:13 pmThey didn't have birth control pills in the 1950's when he was growing up. McCain probably just voted in line with President Bush, just like he did 95 percent of the time.
July 10th, 2008 at 6:50 pm