McCain, Too Slow to Respond & Then Responds Wrong

McCain's Straight Talk Express hit an uncomfortable road block yesterday, the Wall Street Journal reports:

While John McCain often embodies an anything-goes attitude when talking to reporters, it doesn't mean some subjects can't make him sweat--say, birth control.

A female Los Angeles Times reporter inquired today about comments made earlier this week by McCain campaign adviser Carly Fiorina, the former head of Hewlett Packard.

At a breakfast with reporters, Fiorina suggested that individuals-and women in particular-be given more flexibility to determine what their health insurance plans should cover. "There are many health insurance plans that will cover Viagra but won't cover birth-control medication. Those women would like a choice," she observed.

When McCain was asked for his position on the issue, he said--with a nervous laugh-"I certainly do not want to discuss that issue."


McCain twice voted against measures that would have required insurance companies to cover birth control -- in 2003 and 2005.

The Republican said Wednesday that he did not recall those votes. "It's something that I had not thought much about," he added.