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Home > Blogs > Ohio politics > Archives > 2008 > July > 18 > Entry
Eye on Ohio: ‘Simple Question’ ad
By Lynn Hulsey
Dayton Daily News
The ad: “Simple Question,” 30 seconds.
Producer: Planned Parenthood Action Fund.
Where to see it: It began airing Wednesday, Aug. 16, in Ohio, five other states and Washington D.C.
Script: (female announcer): “Ever use birth control? Then you’ll want to hear this.” (A black screen shows the words: John McCain Interview July 10, 2008, and then shows McCain being interviewed by reporters.) Interviewer: “… it’s unfair health insurance companies cover Viagra, but not birth control. Do you have an opinion on that?” McCain: (pause) “I don’t know enough about it to give you an informed answer. …” Announcer: “Planned Parenthood Action Fund is responsible for the content of this advertising because women deserve quality affordable health care.”
Video: McCain is being interviewed in Ohio aboard his “Straight Talk Express.” When he is asked this question, he hesitates, rubs his chin, looks away and finally speaks. Throughout, he appears uncomfortable.
Analysis: The reporter’s question was prompted by earlier comments by McCain’s national co-chairwoman Carly Fiorina, who said women are frustrated that some health-insurance plans cover the male impotency drug Viagra but not contraceptives. The Planned Parenthood advertisement is an excerpt from a slightly longer exchange in which McCain first says he doesn’t want to talk about the issue, and then says he cannot remember how he voted on the question of mandating insurance coverage for birth control.
McCain twice voted no on those mandates, which have not been approved. McCain said he was aware of Fiorina’s remarks, and he said he’d get back to the reporter with an answer.
The insurance coverage issue is likely to be seen by some women as one of fairness, and McCain’s stumbling may offend them. While it’s not unusual for candidates to lack encyclopedic knowledge of their prior votes, the issue is a hot-button one, and McCain’s chairwoman had broached the subject.
On Thursday, July 17, Blair Latoff, spokeswoman for the Republican National Committee, defended McCain’s support of “choice, innovation and competition” in health care.
But that, of course, doesn’t answer the question.
Lynn Hulsey is a reporter at the Dayton Daily News. E-mail: lhulsey@daytondailynews.com.
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