First, Carly Fiorina, a top advisor to the McCain campaign, told reporters this week that it was unfair that insurance companies cover Viagra but not birth control, suggesting that a McCain presidency would offer these women “a choice”.
Second, reporters and women’s organizations point out that Fiorina is misrepresenting McCain’s positions, since he voted against a proposal that would have required insurance companies to cover prescription contraception in the same way they cover Viagra.
A few days later, a reporter for the Los Angeles Times asks McCain himself to clarify his position on this issue. Here is video of that amazing and awkward exchange:
Mainstream media pundits notwithstanding, McCain’s nervousness is not due to talking about Viagra, it is about trying to not offend conservatives who are against birth control while trying to court women voters at the same time. This is what happens when straight talk runs up against political reality.
