Probably not. I suspect he mentioned Teddy because he introduced the system in the US and he’s McCain’s putative hero.
Those arguing from categorical outrage against Obama’s plan, and his way of talking about tax, are assumingly meant to be challenged by this reference, if they have maintained apparent silence on the progressivity of the US tax system through history. Teddy is just useful exemplar for this because he has been appropriated by the Republican brand due to his stand-up frontiersmanship and his contribution to American naval superiority. Reagan would do just as well though.
Maybe what McCain accused Obama of, viz ‘spreading the wealth’, is actually a good thing.
When I think of the guy who got paid something like $250M to stop driving Home Depot into the ground, or counteless over-paid under-achieving corporate leaders, or the guys at AIG who this very today are having an expensive ‘seminar’ after getting bailed out yet again…I say that wealth ought to be spread around to someone or something more deserving.
Considering the state of the economy, maybe “spreading the wealth” appealed to a lot of voters. How was McCain to know the electorate could be so fickle about the immutable evil of socialism?