Holy cow! Watch this.
John McCain advisor and former Hewlitt-Packard CEO, Carli Fiorino, said it was unfair that some insurance companies would cover Viagra but not birth control for women. McCain, who voted against a bill to require companies to offer both (which seems like a very common sense gender equality issue), was asked about this on his Straight Talk bus.
After looking at this tape, I think he needs to rename it the "Bumbling Stumbling Wheel that Goes Round and Round."
Watching this tape is painful, but it reminds me of my favorite stories about Julia Carson involving a very similar issue.
At a debate at the Press Club against Republican Gary Hofmeister, Mary-Beth Schneider asked Julia Carson about whether she thought it was acceptable for Medicare to cover Viagra if it didn't cover birth control. Congresswoman Carson's answer was as follows:
"I don't know anything about that Viagra. You'd have to ask Mr. Hofmeister that question."
Hofmeister was visibly flushed as the crowd roared.
At the same debate, I promise it sounded like each time the Congresswoman said Hofmeister's name it morphed closer and closer to "house master," which would have served as a not-so-subtle reminder of the racial dynamic in that campaign.
(The progression, which I recall like it was yesterday, was "Hofmeister," "Haufmeister," "Hausmeister," "Hausmister," "Hausmaster," "Housemaster").
