McCain launched a new TV ad Friday focusing on his health care plan that is set to air in the key swing state of Ohio.

The ad lauds his health care plan but is notable for one graphic at the top of the ad. While you watch video of McCain walking at the beginning, notice that the words “President McCain,” are displayed on the left side of the screen, as opposed to say, “McCain for President.” About 200 more days and a general election to go there team McCain…

Bonita Springs, FL — Elizabeth Edwards, who has quickly become the go-to voice in opposition to the McCain health care plan plan, lambasted the presumptive GOP nominee’s speech today as “the most radical plan ever suggested by a presidential candidate.”

“”We need to move towards universal coverage. The Democrats have plans that with those goals in mind and Senator McCain’s plan seems to have only the insurance companies in mind. It’s a tremendous disappointment,” Edwards said in a conference call hosted by the Center for American Progress.

Responding to McCain’s criticism that that the Democrats’ plans for universal health care would create an “inefficient” government monopoly, Edwards said the Republican needed to look in the mirror.

“Nobody on the Democratic side is proposing anything nearly as radical, or nearly as government-centric as what Senator McCain is suggesting,” Edwards said. “If you’re poor or you’re sick, you are going to find it extraordinarily difficult to purchase insurance. It will be much more expensive for you, if it’s available at all.”

Edwards also couldn’t resist painting McCain as a flip-flopper on the health insurance issue.

“It used to be that Senator McCain was the person you looked for to stand up to special interests like the insurance companies. We are seeing a different John McCain now,” she said, adding that he is now “capitulating” to industry interests.

Tampa, FL– Getting more Americans health insurance and rebuilding the ailing U.S. health care system is about giving more power to the individual, Sen. John McCain declared Tuesday.

“The key to real reform is to restore control over our health-care system to the patients themselves,” he said in a speech at the University of South Florida–as he touted the power of the free market as the solution to the problem of nearly 47 million uninsured Americans. “Families should only pay for getting the right care: care that is intended to improve and safeguard their health….Americans need new choices beyond those offered in employment-based coverage. Americans want a system built so that wherever you go and wherever you work, your health plan goes with you.”

Flanked on stage by nearly 50 medical professionals, many in white doctor’s coats, McCain restated a number of aspects of the plan he initially laid out last fall–albeit with some new details–which at it’s heart offers a tax credit ($5,000 for families and $2,500 for individuals) for health insurance. The goal he says is to offer an alternative to employer-based coverage (as he will eliminate the current tax exclusion for people who receive coverage through work) and create an open market that will require insurance companies to compete for customers. The speech came in conjunction with a new health care ad (see above) set to air in the key swing state of Iowa.

McCain took a few shots at his Democratic rivals’ plans, which offer universal or near-universal coverage, arguing that they “will replace the inefficiency, irrationality, and uncontrolled costs of the current system with the inefficiency, irrationality, and uncontrolled costs of a government monopoly.” McCain also called on both Sens. Obama and Clinton to support medical liability reform if they are “sincere” about putting “the needs of patients before the demands of trial lawyers.”

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