July 22, 2008
Critics Pile On As McCain Gaffes Pile Up
Politico: Verbal Blunders Bring New Attention To Sensitive Issue Of His Age
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Republican presidential candidate Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., answers question during an Associated Press interview in New York, July 19, 2008. (AP)
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Senator John McCain (R-Ariz.) said “Iraq” when he apparently meant “Afghanistan” on Monday, adding to a string of mixed-up word choices that is giving ammunition to the opposition.
Just in the past three weeks, McCain has mixed up Iraq and Afghanistan, Somalia and Sudan, and even football’s Packers and Steelers.
Ironically, the errors have been concentrated in what should be his area of expertise - foreign affairs.
McCain will turn 72 the day after Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) accepts his party’s nomination for president, calling new attention to the sensitive issue of McCain’s advanced age, three days before the start of his own convention.
The McCain campaign says Obama has had plenty of flubs of his own, including a reference to "57 states" and a string of misstated place names during the primaries that Republicans gleefully sent around as YouTubes.
But the mistakes raise a serious, if uncomfortable question: Are the gaffes the result of his age? And what could that mean in the Oval Office?
Voters, thinking about their own relatives, can be expected to scrutinize McCain’s debate performances for signs of slippage.
Every voter has a parent, grandparent or a friend whose mental acuity slipped as they grew older. It happens at different times for different people - and there is ample evidence many in their 70s are sharp and fit as ever. There is also ample evidence others do start to slip at that age.
In McCain’s case, his medical records, public appearances and travel schedule have suggested he remains at the top of his game.
But his liberal critics have been pouncing on every misstatement as a sign that he’s an old man.
Already, late-night comics have made McCain’s age an almost nightly topic, with CBS’s David Letterman getting a laugh just about any time he says the word “McCain” and “nap” in the same sentence.
Last week, McCain tried to defuse the issue by pretending to doze off during an appearance with NBC’s Conan O’Brien.
Republicans would like to make the case that McCain is seasoned and Obama is a callow newcomer to the public stage. But that’ll be harder if he keeps up the verbal slips, which make it easier for comedians and critics to pile on.
“FIRST GAFFE OF OBAMA TRIP......GOES TO MCCAIN,” blared Monday afternoon’s banner headline on the left-leaning Huffington Post, accompanied by a photo of McCain appearing to slap his forehead.
That referred to an ABCNews.com posting asserting that McCain appeared to “confuse Iraq and Afghanistan, in a “Good Morning America” interview with ABC’s Diane Sawyer, who asked whether the "the situation in Afghanistan is precarious and urgent.”
McCain responded: “I'm afraid it's a very hard struggle, particularly given the situation on the Iraq/Pakistan border," McCain said. The ABC posting added: “Iraq and Pakistan do not share a border. Afghanistan and Pakistan do.”
Unfortunately for McCain, that wasn’t an isolated slip. Among the other lapses:
-“Somalia” for “Sudan” - As recounted in a reporter’s pool report from McCain’s Straight Talk Express bus on June 30, the senator said while discussing Darfur, a region of Sudan: "How can we bring pressure on the government of Somalia?"
Senior adviser Mark Salter corrected him: “Sudan.”
-“Germany” for “Russia” - A YouTube clip from last year memorializes McCain referring to Vladimir Putin of Russia - following a trip to Germany - as “President Putin of Germany.”
-This spring, McCain said troops in Iraq were “down to pre-surge levels” when in fact there were 20,000 more troops than when the surge policy began.
-Also this spring, McCain twice appeared to mistake Sunnis and Shiites, two branches of Islam that split violently.
-In Phoenix earlier this month, McCain referred to "Czechoslovakia,” which has been divided since Jan. 1, 1993, into the Czech Republic and Slovakia. He also referred to Czechoslovakia during a debate in November and a radio show in April.
-In perhaps the most curious incident, McCain said earlier this month that as a prisoner of war in Vietnam, he had tried to confuse his captors by giving the names of Pittsburgh Steelers starting players when asked to identify his squadron mates. McCain has told the story many times over the years - but had always referred correctly to the names he gave as members of the Green Bay Packers.
By Jim VandeHei and Mike Allen
Copyright 2008 POLITICO
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Michelle Obama tells how her role as the First Lady has changed her perspective.
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See all 760 CommentsThis country would find itself in a "Sorry State Of Depression"!
This country would find itself in a "Sorry State Of Depression"!
This country would find itself in a "Sorry State Of Depression"!
Nothing Bush nor McSame is true. They read from the same book of lies. Please for the sake of the world VOTE FOR OBAMA!!
Peace to you and yours....
Once a lying-*** hypocrite, always a lying-*** hypocrite!
this is why he told the press today he would not be talking to them!
Posted by alohaone1 at 02:49 PM : Jul 23, 2008
Bush went to the Surge because the American People refused to buy his "Stay the Course" line anymore. THEY went to the polls in RECORD Numbers and voted DEMOCRATS in with the express goal of ending the War in Iraq. Bush came up with the Surge as a way around that. Please try to be accurate when you post. It insults people when you twist the facts like you have in your post!!
Um, Muslim terrorism against the US has been around since the 1800''s with the Barbary pirates. Nice try though. Maybe next you''ll blame the Crusades.
mccain''s base is the media, is this guy ok?
Posted by mycommentspg
D@mn you Bill O''''Reilly, Sean Hannity, Brett Hume, Glen Beck, Rush, Bob Novack, Lou Dobbs, Ann Coulter, Joe Scarborough, William ''''the Blood'''' Krystal, Randy Savage, Tucker Carlson, Matt Drudge, Newt Gingrich, Karl Rove...
How many of those above either work directly for Fox news or are routine contributors? Naw, there is no bias at Fox news...
McCain: ''''I don''''t know how you respond to something that is such a false depiction of what actually happened. Colonel McFarlane (phonetic) was contacted by one of the major Sunni sheiks. Because of the surge we were able to go out and protect that sheik and others. And it began the Anbar awakening. I mean, that''''s just a matter of history. Thanks to General Petraeus, our leadership, and the sacrifice of brave young Americans. I mean, to deny that their sacrifice didn''''t make possible the success of the surge in Iraq, I think, does a great disservice to young men and women who are serving and have sacrificed.''''
One problem. The surge wasn''''t even announced until a few months after the Anbar Awakening. Via Spencer Ackerman, here is Colonel MacFarland explaining the Anbar Awakening to Pam Hass of UPI, on September 29 2006. That would be almost four months before the President even announced the surge. Petraeus wasn''''t even in Iraq yet.
(cont)
There is not only the question of experience (which McCain supporters always stress) there is also the question of judgment. If McCain cannot organize a campaign without multiple scoundrels, then what makes you think he can run this country any better than out current Great Leader??
Posted by mycommentspg
D@mn you Bill O''Reilly, Sean Hannity, Brett Hume, Glen Beck, Rush, Bob Novack, Lou Dobbs, Ann Coulter, Joe Scarborough, William ''the Blood'' Krystal, Randy Savage, Tucker Carlson, Matt Drudge, Newt Gingrich, Karl Rove...
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See all 760 Comments