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Thursday, July 17, 2008

McCain's Birth Control Blooper

Filed under John McCainFiled under Health CareFiled under Television Ad
Posted at 1:55 PM
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For Planned Parenthood, John McCain's silence speaks volumes. In a new ad (subscription) released Wednesday, the organization re-airs footage of an interview last week in which McCain paused for nearly 10 seconds before responding to a reporter's question on whether it was fair for insurance companies to cover Viagra but not birth control.

The 30-second spot devotes almost a third of its time to McCain's pause, which is followed by his delayed reply: "I don't know enough about it to give you a informed [sic] answer."

The spot is part of Planned Parenthood's campaign against the Arizona senator and his "anti-choice and anti-women's health care record," according to a press release. The ad ran during Wednesday's premiere of "Project Runway," and will also air during "Army Wives" and "The Oprah Winfrey Show" on local cable channels in a handful of battleground states, including Ohio and Iowa.

The question, posed aboard the Straight Talk Express bus, was prompted by one of McCain's most influential surrogates -- former chief of Hewlett-Packard Carly Fiorina -- when she appeared to criticize health insurance companies for covering Viagra but not birth control. The McCain camp has since sought to clarify the statements Fiorina made and separate her criticism from the candidate.

McCain's "Viagra moment," as it has been dubbed on various political blogs, certainly can't help his courtship of women voters. In a recent Washington Post/ABC News poll, he's trailing Barack Obama among women, 34 percent to 59 percent.