Here's a story that was on Talking Points Memo last night that seems to getting picked up in more mainstream outlets today: In an interview on Spanish-language radio, McCain not only didn't know who the prime minister of Spain was (most people don't, but you'd have thought he'd have been prepped on it) but even worse got mixed up and kept talking as if Spain is a country in South America. Today his campaign is claiming that by lumping Zapatero with Chavez, Castro, and Morales he was sending a stern signal that a NATO ally that crosses us in any way (e.g., pulling out of 'the coalition of the willing') is an ally no longer. But it seems more likely that exhaustion of the campaign trail has combined with his seventy-two years to leave him momentarily addled -- which makes it part of a pattern of "senior moments" in recent weeks (the 'Iraq/Pakistan border', Czechoslovakia), and raises again the spectre of how well a frail old man can survive the incredible stress of the presidency.
Here's the link; there are plenty of follow-up reports examining different aspects of the incident on the same site.
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/217744.php
--John R.
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The most frightening aspect of the whole matter, as you mention, has been the spin that the Right has put on this whole affair. Rather than admit that he made a mistake, or misunderstood the question, or had difficulty with the interviewers strong accent, they have marched on saying that he meant what he said. Somehow lumping Zapatero in with leftist-leaning South American heads of state, even if they do share some ideological aspects. Just because Zapatero followed through with his campaign promise to pull out the troops, does that mean America just invade the Costa del Sol? 90% of Spaniards were against the war, but ex-prime minister and neolibral Aznar took us there anyways. Democracy indeed is on the march!
Their spin falls terribly short though as McCain himself stresses the word Hemisphere. Admit that the candidate could care less about what lies beyond America's borders...it seems that 50% or more of the voting population could care less either.
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