Republicans are never going to let go of that talking point, even though it has become tremendously hypocritical (it was always at least somewhat hypocritical). I understand it annoying people, because at this point that thing about being massive hypocrites who are doing something 100x worse has recontextualized it, but actually, it isn't totally unfounded. No Republican liked Obamacare, that's true, but it also caused a great deal of discontent among the public, culminating in Scott Brown taking Ted Kennedy's Senate seat. At that point, there was a lot of self-questioning among Democrats, and no one was sure what the right step forward was. What Obama did, what Democrats in Congress did to make sure something could pass in this new situation, somewhat resembled "ramming through" Obamacare. Here's a tidbit into the mentality at the time, from a McClatchy article:
And another, from the NYT:
The decision to push through all those obstacles, to Republicans, looked like "ramming through" the bill. The thing is, "ramming through" a good bill isn't necessarily a bad thing. In this case, it reflected the conviction of Obama and the Democrats he lead to decisively move the country forward on an incredibly important issue. They did so even though there was a good chance it would cost them down the line (and it did, with a lot of Democrats who voted for the bill losing in the 2010 midterm elections), and even though it was setting up Obamacare for a much less smooth implementation than it otherwise could have had in a more beautiful world.
Actually, it's the latter thing that McCain emphasizes in his statement. Whether you call it "ramming through" or something else, there's certainly a lesson to be learned from the aftermath of how Obamacare was accomplished, and McCain seems to be hoping that his fellow Republicans take something away from it.
