So I began an email newsletter at work with a small but avid readership.  My email newsletter, called Today's McCain Gaffe promises just that -- some kind of gaffe on speechifying, policy, organization or some other campaign issue which reflects negatively on McCain.  And using sources including but not limited to DKos, I have produced one for just about every business day of the past month.  Join me below the flip for a fun list of something McCain has bunged up nearly every single weekday since July 10!  

So said John McCain in a press conference today about the Russia-Georgia situation.

Good God, how many colossal blunders can this man make before the MSM takes notice?

Are they afraid to call him on these things because they fear they'll be accused of ageism?  Or are they so interested in a horse race that they don't want to kick the loser while he's down?

Who'da thunk it? John McCain just said something I think we can all agree with!

Just a short diary this time.

It seems just hanging around McCain is enough to make you start gaffing. On Meet the Press this morning, Joe Liebermann made a reference to "Al Qaeda in Iran". It remains to be seen how much contact is required for infection - let's face it, Liebermann spends more time with McCain than Cindy does.

Kudos to John Kerry though, when confronted with Joe's sickening line that the surge proves McCain has better judgement he reeled of the hit-list of pre-surge misjudgements: repeating the WMD and terrorism claims to win support, repeating the "greeted as liberators" meme to win support, claiming the war was over and we'd be out of the country in mid-2003 etc. etc. etc. etc. Joe was only able to come back with "but the surge worked", which Kerry also made an effort to rebut, although less convincingly.

UPDATE: Thanks to DiegoUK for the link to the video. The gaffe is 25m45 seconds in, shortly after Kerry's litany of McCain misjudgements. I missed out "wrong about oil paying for the war, wrong about Afghanistan - [McCain] said noone was threatening us in Afghanistan" Zing!

I'm actually not very high on judging candidates by their gaffes. I don't think it makes one scintilla of a difference whether John Kerry thinks the Packers play on Lambeau Field or Lambert Field. How would that have affected the way he governed as president? Not at all.

I think journalists over-emphasize gaffes because they think it is a point of fact they can point to without being criticized by either side for being biased. They feel they're not allowed to say that someone's tax cut plan is terrible and will put a huge hole in the national budget. That might be true, but conventional wisdom says an objective reporter is not allowed to say that. Gaffes, on the other hand, are clear and can be pounced on.

So, with all of that being said, I am ironically going to point out a second possible gaffe for John McCain in a row.

Before Obama headed on his international trip the MSM concluded that while the journey offered some opportunities for Obama it also contained many chances for disaster to strike...especially in the form of a cringe-worthy gaffe.  

The international stage can be treacherous for a politician: mastering a campaign message in foreign lands can prove difficult, dealing with uncooperative politicians and heads-of-state can be challenging, and simply remembering the relevant historical facts from country to country can prove daunting. Many in the chattering class thought that it likely that Obama would make a gaffe that would demonstrate his lack of mastery on the international stage.  

Of course, instead of Obama tripping over his own tongue and making a serious gaffe it was John McCain who made gaffe after gaffe.  Obama did misspeak here and there but both the quality and quantity of McCain's gaffes far outpaced Obama's missteps.  

~ Join me after the flip for my assessment of the Gaffe Score ~

I have read plenty of criticisms of bloggers.  I know, then, that I am about to write exactly the sort of thing that makes the stuffed suits puff up with self-important disdain.  A lifetime of journalism could not have prepared me for the propaganda and revelations of evil I have witnessed this year, however, so critique away.  I will just write the way I want to write, same as it ever was (water flowing underground).

Why should I support John McCain?
Is it because of his compassion for homosexuals and children?
Is it because he has all of his facts together when he speaks?
Is it because he is young enough to understand how to use a computer?
Is it because he never changes his positions on issues?
Is it because he has a host of surrogates who speak honestly and fairly on his behalf?
Is it because, like the working class in our nation, he has money troubles?
Is it because of his great skin?

More after the flip

There is one more John McCain gaffe that the media missed from the now famous CBS interview with Katie Couric.

This is the same interview in which McCain claimed the surge led to the Anbar Awakening, which is demonstrably false. But watch below for another gaffe when McCain says Iraq was the first major conflict after 9/11.

You know about the stimulus-response rule?  Apply a stimulus, get a response.  So, how has the GOP attempt to frame the debate been going?

Stimulus: Tell America that Obama hasn't been to Iraq, and doesn't know what's going on in the Middle East.
Response: Obama visits Iraq, and their prime minister endorses his idea for troop withdrawl timetable.

Stimulus: Tell America that the "liberal" media is treating McCain unfairly.
Response: Media looks at McCain, and watches him make gaffes.

Stimulus: Tell America that Bush's call for drilling has brought down the price of oil, and schedule a photo-op on an oil rigger.
Response: What else?  An oil spill.

This begs the question: "Is the McCain Campaign cursed?"

We Democrats are getting confident.  How can Obama possibly lose?  Just wait until the debates!

The M$M, however, having lots of rating advertising to lose with a blowout, is in a panic.  They need a horse race.  Fortunately, they have a plan, and the money to pull it off.  Want to know how?

"FIRST GAFFE OF OBAMA TRIP......GOES TO MCCAIN," was the big Monday afternoon banner headline on Huffington Post, accompanied by a photo of McCain appearing to slap his forehead.

That headline 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."

Now the newest gaffe, McCain doesn't know the timeline of the "surge"...the subject of which wound up on the cutting room floor of CBS's Katie Couric interview.

A lot of the posts about the editing of Katie Couric's interview with John McCain seem to assume that CBS deliberately edited the piece to hide McCain's gaffe. But the fact that they posted the entire interview calls that assumption into question.

There may be other possibilities, equally, if not more, disturbing.

So, these are the questions I would ask CBS News and Katie Couric:

So we now know that CBS left out an important gaffe from the McCain interview, and are now posting the video on their website. But I noticed a common occurrence on CNN.com political ticker.

Earlier today on Good Morning America, Senator John McCain made an incredibly confusing gaffe about the Middle East. When he was asked whether the situation in Afghanistan was urgent he said it was not, but that we had a "lot of work to do" given the "Situation along the Iraq-Pakistan border".

To anyone vaguely familiar with Middle Eastern geography this would be incredibly perplexing, given the fact that Iraq and Pakistan are separated by over a thousand miles and the land mass of Iran. Perhaps McCain meant to say "Iran-Pakistan" border...? But that wouldn't make much sense. Maybe he really isn't that savvy about foreign affairs.

Here is the clip and the full interview -

As I think about the absolutely horrific gaffe by John McCain today, that has literally put the lives of 3 US Senators, masses of US Government employees, and journalists at risk, I asked myself, What Would Karl Rove Do?

I firmly believe the Karl Rove would turn this into the "I voted for it before I voted against it moment".  He would attack John McCain only perceived strength, national security, by hammering away at it ruthlessly.  

For better or worse, I am not sure the Obama campaign is willing to take these steps.  However, follow me after the jump to what I believe are the 5 easy steps that would literally end the campaign in mid July.

John McCain embarassed himself once again, another gaffe, blurting the truth.

During today's town hall meeting, he siad he wants our offshore reserves "exploited". That's right, not explored, "EXPLOITED". As the audience began laughing, McCain quickly corrected.  

I completely agree with Max Bergmann over at Huffington Post!

Honestly, this guy is a complete, ... , absolute idiot!

I would fear for my country if he were in charge!

I don't understand all the free passes!

Just because you've seen Charlie Manson around a lot doesn't mean, he gets a free pass when he does the crazy stuff!

It's not often I'm suddenly compelled to write a diary. I don't write many. But tonight I couldn't resist because John McCain just handed us the perfect opportunity of the election cycle and our first real opportunity to define him to the nation.

This has been already diaried, for sure, but I'm not certain everybody fully understands yet how pivotal this could be! Forget what Gramm said-- there's a (good) diary on the rec list right now that rips into Gramm without a single solitary mention of McCain. But Gramm is just a diversion from the main target here, people! Gramm should only be a conduit for annihilating McCain, by highlighting what McCain himself has said, something we should be repeating all the way to November.

John McCain believes America's problems are only psychological.

John McCain doesn't understand that the price of gas has a real effect on people's lives. He thinks not being able to afford to get to work is only a product of overactive imaginations.

John McCain doesn't believe that the export of jobs is really affecting anyone. To him, it's all just mass hysteria.

John McCain doesn't believe spending billions of dollars on a botched, unnecessary war with no end in sight is really hurting us back home. It's probably just seasonal depression.

Jonathan Martin reports on Politico that John McCain bumbled his answer to a question at a town hall event:

The questioner noted that he had been educated at Princeton and Harvard and made more than $300,000 a year.

"How can I be proud of my country?" he asked.

"I’ll admit to you that it’s tough, it’s tough in some respects," McCain said, seeming to lend credence to Michelle Obama's observation.

The reference to Michelle Obama concerns her comment weeks ago to the effect that "this was the first time in her life that she was proud of America."