By now, most of us have heard about the gaffe made by McCain to the journalist from Radio Caracol in Miami. In it, a somewhat confused and befuddled McCain repeatedly reiterates a somewhat bizarre response to an innocent question asked by an obviously frustrated reporter who is doing his best to simplify the question for McCain. The interview has left most of the domestic and international press guessing as to what McCain's true intent was. The ramifications of this are enormous... after all, this is from the mouth of a potential major leader and political force in the world.
More below the fold...
In an equally bizarre response, McCain's foreign policy adviser Randy Sheunemann claimed that McCain knew exactly what he was doing and that his response was intentional:
"The questioner asked several times about Senator McCain's willingness to meet Zapatero (and id'd him in the question so there is no doubt Senator McCain knew exactly to whom the question referred). Senator McCain refused to commit to a White House meeting with President Zapatero in this interview,"
Wow, after eight years of our current administration refusing to negotiate with domestic (read: Congress or populace) and foreign adversaries, it's disheartening to know that John McCain would not only continue this policy of oligarchial unilateralism, but even extend it to include our own NATO allies, especially after extending an olive branch to them earlier this year. What happened between then and now? This isn't change, it's an exacerbation of the last eight years!
I'm of the camp that McCain's response wasn't intentional, but rather that he didn't hear, comprehend, or possess enough foreign policy knowledge to answer the question. Furthermore, I agree with Christopher Orr of the New Republic:
"What's shocking is that, rather than own up to this excusable error, the McCain camp has dug in, claiming that McCain understood every word and meant exactly what he said."
If McCain's advisors are adamant in their claims that McCain's response was intentional and calculated, Obama needs to hit them hard here and have them clarify this fully... don't let it die and be persistent! After all, very few issues are as politically relevant as a foreign policy dilemma. We are seeing McCain in a realistic scenario in a vein that could very likely play out on today's world stage. It'd be pretty tough to construe this as a negative attack or a political distraction, it's an opportunity for John McCain to elaborate on how he'd like us to perceive him and his ability to handle foreign policy. How is he going to reintegrate us with the world that George W Bush has alienated us from? Are we going to allow old wounds to heal and move on in a constructive fashion, or are we still pissed off at Spain for pulling their troops from Iraq? These are fair questions that deserve answers. Furthermore, bringing all of this up repeatedly on a televison ad or on the campaign trail would bring the interview to the forefront and allow everybody to hear or read McCain's bumbling responses and decide for themselves as to what his true intent was.
On the other hand, McCain and his advisors could avoid all of this by admitting that McCain simply made a gaffe (as I believe) and then explain how they felt they needed to repeatedly lie to cover up what might be construed as one or more of McCain's inadequacies.
Either way, it's a losing dilemma for them and the only way to salvage a win would be if Obama or Biden fail to capitalize on this.
UPDATE: My post was not intended to poke fun at senility or aging, even though I wouldn't be remiss not to discuss it in the context of one of the two men potentially destined to lead our nation in very complex times. Rather my diary was intended to highlight the McCain response and their persistence in their explantion. The GOP response is what should be the focus of the attack, not the gaffe, that'll come out from this.
I realize that Josh Marshall, Aravosis, and numerous others have expertly and thoroughly covered this repeatedly, but I've seen very little outside of the left blogosphere on it. As my title suggests, this post was not intended to be a "me too" piling on of the plethora of information already out there, but a suggestion that one of our surrogates call them out on their response and take them for what they say it is... and play it up with their ball (I say surrogates so that Obama and Biden can stick to the economy and other more important issues). Rather, I envision a TV ad along these lines: "John McCain has made it clear that he would continue the Bush policy of not meeting or talking with those deemed not friendly or not sharing our worldview. Unlike George Bush, however, John McCain would also extend this to include some of our NATO allies who share our democratic ideals and have troops fighting alongside our own in Afghanistan. Haven't we had enough of this isolationism and shunning of diplomacy?" ... I know it's late and I should be in bed, but you get my drift?