HARRISONBURG, VA. — Barack Obama on Tuesday seized on comments made by a top aide to rival John McCain about the Republican's healthcare plan, saying they amounted to a different kind of "October surprise."
"This morning, we were offered a stunning bit of straight talk . . . from his top economic advisor, who actually said that the health insurance people currently get from their employer is, and I quote, 'way better' than the healthcare they'd be getting if John McCain were president," Obama told 8,000 supporters crammed into an arena at James Madison University in Harrisonburg, Va., and 12,000 standing outside.
The Democratic candidate was referring to comments made by Douglas Holtz-Eakin, who was asked on CNNMoney .com about an element of McCain's healthcare plan. McCain calls for eliminating tax breaks on employer-sponsored healthcare benefits but wants to give taxpayers healthcare tax credits -- $2,500 for individuals and $5,000 for families -- to buy insurance.
McCain argues that his plan would reduce what Americans spend on healthcare by creating more competition for insurance plans.
But independent analysts have concluded that McCain's plan would prompt younger workers to abandon employer-sponsored plans to find less expensive coverage -- leaving employers with a pool of older, less healthy workers, potentially prompting them to drop coverage completely.
Holtz-Eakin, a senior McCain advisor, was asked about young workers fleeing employer plans. "Why would they leave?" he said. "What they are getting from their employer is way better than what they could get with the credit."
Obama said the remarks proved that the Republican's plan was fatally flawed.
"This is the point I've been making since Sen. McCain unveiled his plan. It took until the last seven days of this election for his campaign to finally admit the truth, but better late than never," Obama said.
Holtz-Eakin accused the Obama campaign of distorting his words.
"My response was that, obviously, if they had better coverage, they would not change," Holtz-Eakin said. "The Obama campaign deliberately took the quote out of context. This continues their disgraceful campaign."
Both candidates began their day in Pennsylvania. In Hershey, McCain continued to portray the Democrat as presumptuous, invoking the 30-minute commercial the Obama campaign will run on several networks tonight, which a campaign source said would have a live component.
