With Sen. John McCain back in the spotlight leading the Republican opposition to health care, the biggest fight he and Barack Obama had last year over the issue has evaporated.
In 2008, McCain proposed taxing employer- based health care benefits, an idea Obama derided as dangerous.
The proposal shaping up in the health care bill (follow our updates here) isn’t exactly what McCain proposed, but it turns out Obama wasn’t as opposed to it as it seemed in 2008.
There’s a scene in the HBO documentary “By the People” where Obama says hitting McCain on the idea is “risky” in case he would need to implement such a proposal as president.
Obama campaign manager David Plouffe confessed in his book “Audacity to Win” that Obama didn’t like the line of attack to call it “the biggest middle-class tax increase in history.”
“Obama was unhappy when he saw the ads and demanded less drama,” Plouffe wrote.
Obama told the campaign: “I don’t think people will find that charge credible, and while I can make the case that it’s true, I think it puts too much spin on the ball.”
