Damn! McCain spends all that time learning to speak Latin - not easy, believe me - then it turns out that she's not talking about Latin America, but Spain!

Who could have predicted that?

Note that Greg quite charitably considers every possible interpretation, and contacts the interviewer to get her impressions, and then posts her impressions even though they don't support the most damaging interpretation of the interview. This is called due diligence and fairness, wingnut lurkers and trolls.

Is anyone watching the Mccain rally in Iowa? Man I swear the "first dude" checked out the blonde standing right next to him...

As senile or stupid as McCain seems on this I think he's going to largely get a pass, mainly because the interview was conducted by a foreign reporter and we all know how Americans feel about foreigners.

Pufferfish

Actually, what's clear is that McCain's handlers gave him his talking points about Latin America, and he kept repeating them.

They obviously didn't give him any talking points about Spain, so he had nothing, except to repeat the talking points about Latin America.

He basically did what Palin did with Charles Gibson. He winged it, and in the process made a complete ass of himself.

New Republican talking points: who the hell does Cuello think she is, asking McCain a gotcha question like that? Is she even here legally? Doesn't she have an Obama tattoo?

To be fair I don't expect him or Obama to know the name of every world leader but not knowing if and where the actually country is located that scary?

Even more disturbing is the fact his behavior, response and rationality apparently are bizzare and mysterious for reporters to dissect.

So, Greg, how bad was that Spanish accent?

He's an old man and he got confused. He probably knows where Spain is and who Zapatero is, he just forgot for a minute. He was trying to cover up his confusion. I was going to say something else, but I forgot what it was.

McCain thinks that Iraq and Pakistan share a border . . . (The rest of the world calls their shared border IRAN).

Both McCain and Palin believe that you can see RUSSIA from Alaska . . . A feat similar to seeing Los Angeles from New York . . . On can see part of the old U.S.S.R. from Alaska BUT Russia is on the EUROPE side of the old U.S.S.R.

McCain not knowing Spain is a country . . . For someone that was born before Isabella and Ferdinand unified Spain . . . It is easy to see why McCain would be a bit addled on the question.

Eric and Greg that CNU poll on VA is a total farce, read this:

Only 3 percent of the CNU survey participants were under 30 years old; such voters made up 16 percent of the state's voter turnout in the 2004 election, according to Election Day surveys at polling places statewide. Ten percent of those surveyed by CNU identified themselves as African American; the black turnout in Virginia in 2004 was 22 percent of the total vote.

Erm WTF over? They just took away nearly 25% of 04 demographics to weight the poll? This poll is a complete sham wow

I really love the graphic posted on the Front Page for this story. Who knew that Spain fit in so well between Columbia and Venezuela?

I listened to the clip, and it seemed like McCain confused the words "Zapatero" and "Zapatista" - on being asked the question he jumped into statement on Mexico and the war it was fighting (presumably with the Zapatistas.

Later I think he misheard "Europe" as "you": when she said something like "we're talking about Europe" He replied with something like "what about me?" And indeed on the recording it did sound like the word "you."

I really don't want to make excuses for McCain, but while he did screw this up, it doesn't show total ignorance - bad media performance also played a role. And personally, I'm ready for a president who doesn't say stupid things every time he's put in front of a microphone.

Spain has gay marriage.

Do you feel the danger now?

(full disclosure: Mr. TheraP is from Spain)

Man I am ready to glasgow kiss (headbutt) that CNU pollster into obliviion

Gallup Tracker: Obama leads 48-44 !

Whether he knew the name of the Spanish PM, or whether he was confused by the question, we're missing the underlying message.

He basically said, "I know these people but I won't talk with them. I'll stand up to them."

More tough guy talk. Just what we need. As if 8 years of that crap wasn't enough, he wants to give us more.

For all the dishonorable lies he's thrown at Obama, and for all the cluelessness he has shown regarding the economy, I am still willing to grant McCain the benefit of the doubt regarding his weird ducking-the-question moment with Yoli Cuello. Listening to the interview I can see that he may have been confused by the line of questioning, her accent (especially when she says "Zapatero", and the fact that over a phone line it may have been hard to hear her; these are all mistakes anyone could make in that situation. He may have confused "Zapatero" with "Zapatista", hence his reference to Mexico right after that question, or he may have been trying to change the subject to Mexico in the hope of appealing to Mexican-American voters. The same goes for his references to "this hemisphere"-- there are far more hispanic Americans from central/south America than from Spain.

As clueless as McCain might be, there's no smoking gun here to prove he thought Spain was part of Latin America.

This is a non-issue compared to the far greater sins of lying about Obama's or Palin's (or his own) records, and then denying they are lies when it's pointed out.

Plain and simple: McCain either wasn't able or didn't care enough to continue to listen carefully, misheard the interviewer - then tried to play it off unsuccessfully by firing off some talking points regarding what he thought she said...

...or he genuinely wants to agitate relations with Spain by casting Zapatero as the enemy, or someone that has to pass some hackneyed smell-test that McCain devised on the fly.

So he made a bad mistake either way. Then they go and say that he did that on purpose/i>?

Remember, Senator McCain - the cover-up is often worse than the crime.

The comments (see talking pointe memo) of the McCain campaign today, explaining the comment are more offensive to the government of Spain than the original comments.

Now the the campaign is on the record as declaring Spain an enemy of the United States, the government of Spain the PM are entitled to a clarification and an apology from the campaign and Sen. McCain himself.

If the PM is not satisfied with the response of the CAMPAIGN, given that republicans are the party in power, then the US Ambassador must be notified... if that fails to clear it up, then Spain can ask the US Embassador to leave.

A full scale diplomatic catasrophe because McCain tried to spin his way out of his bad memory.

Call the PM! WRITE TO EL PAIS! SPAIN, SAVE US. We came to your defense in 1934 (lefties in the US) now your MUST REPAY THE DEBT OF THE LINCOLN BRIGADE!!

The "narrative" from the beginning of the campaign (and even before) is that McCain had experience in foreign policy and was the proven leader, and Obama would have to prove himself. But is the premise really true? Does McCain really know anything about foreign policy or are people just assuming he does because he's been in the Senate for 26 years?

Perhaps with a few more incidents like this the media will finally re-examine their assumptions about McCain and start asking hard questions about his real experience and knowledge and leadership skills.

Senator McCain does that all the time - duck questions. And almost everyone lets him get away with it. Still.

I'd expect this from Palin but damn. He's really losing it. His bearings, that is.

Speaking of ELPAIS... here is what McCain knew and thought about Spain back in April of this year. (The link is from Ben Smith over at Politico. The translation is from Google(my Spanish is not that good).)

ELPAIS.COM
http://www.elpais.com/articulo/internacional/Espana/hay/mirar/adelante/elpepuint/20080406elpepiint_2/Tes

With Spain we must look ahead (Translated from the Spanish)

Quote attributed to John McCain:

"I would like [the president Zapatero] visit the United States. I am very interested not only in normalizing relations with Spain, but getting a good and productive relations with a view to addressing many issues and challenges that we face together"

Original Spanish Version

Me gustaría que [el presidente Zapatero] visitara Estados Unidos. Yo estoy muy interesado, no sólo en normalizar las relaciones con España, sino en conseguir unas relaciones buenas y productivas con objeto de atender muchos asuntos y desafíos a los que tenemos que hacer frente juntos"

The Republicans must be defeated, but we don't have to do it by pretending miscommunications reveal something as ridiculous as "McCain thinks Spain is in South America." Combine less than perfect hearing, a poor phone connection (as evidenced by the muffled way McCain's voice comes across in the recording), the interviewer's heavy accent, and context (the preceding discussion was entirely about Latin America) and the reason for the error becomes clear.

This misrepresentation of a communications breakdown as a major gaffe is typical of the games played by the Republicans and the mainstream media against Democrats. It is dishonest and should have no place in serious politics.

I wish I could understand the comments below the El Pais article. They don't sound too happy.

No matter what happened that lead to this embarassment, it doesn't look good for McCain.

I understand that, in Spain, George W. Bush's snub of Zapatero is a big deal, a point of national pride. The reporter probably wanted to make sure she had McCain on the record on that point.

Obviously, McCain didn't really know what he was talking about, but kept talking anyhow.

Spain is a NATO ally and there doesn't seem to be a good reason to refuse to invite the Spanish PM to the White House.

George W. did it, and McCain is following Bush's lead.

Despite what the interviewer assumes, it seems more like McCain momentarily forgot where Spain is or that he mentally connected Spain to Latin America.

Perhaps he lost track of what he was dealing with because of the interviewer's Spanish accent, and maybe connected Spanish-speaking people to Latin America, where Spanish-speaking people live. (Besides Spain, of course!)

That would explain why he could have misheard "what about Europe" as "what about your ...". He just wasn't zoned into Spain being in Europe or that he was talking about Spain.

That would also explain why all of his answers about Zapatero had to do with Latin America:
"And by the way President Calderone of Mexico is fighting a very, very tough fight against the drug cartels. I'm glad we are now working with the Mexican government on the Merida Plan, and I intend to move forward with relations and invite as many of them as I can, of those leaders to the White House."
"All I can tell you is I have a clear record of working with leaders in the hemisphere that are friends with us ... "importance of our relationship with Latin America and the entire region."

Guys, please listen to the audio. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WItI9It_Swc) I hate McCain as much as the next guy, but the interviewer was not clear. She has a rather thick accent, speaks rather quickly, and she does jump into talking about Spain out of the blue. Notice that she says his entire name, José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, not just Zapatero. Additionally, as a Spanish major who's lived in a Spanish-speaking country, names are especially hard for nonspeakers to register. After a month, I started introducing myself as "Eh-steeb" instead of Steve because it was so frustrating. If you ever had a foreign exchange student in your high school, you know that whenever that person was discussed, so was the correct pronunciation of their name.

When she says "Europe", she does only say the first syllable. Seriously, listen to the audio with a teaspoon of skepticism and you'll see why the MSM hasn't picked it up. This was not a gaffe and it should get dropped. If you want to talk about his gaffes, talk about his "fundamentals of the economy are strong" garbage. That's something worth talking about.

Warning Signs of Alzheimer's
1. Memory Loss
2. Difficulty performing familiar tasks
3. Problems with language
4. Disorientation to time and place
5. Poor or decreased judgment
6. Problems with abstract thinking
7. Misplacing things
8. Changes in mood or behavior
9. Changes in personality
10. Loss of initiative

Indeed, mar mie,,,,, any clinical psychologist worth their salt can bill for at least seven of these.

Time to bury the dead horse before he stinks.

McCain is owning his words! Here is our chance...(from a friend):
Someone should put out some footage of the Madrid train bombings that killed 191 and wounded 1755 (wiki) and ask the following simple question:
What does John McCain think ought to be the standard of suffering and sacrifice does a country have to meet before McCain will meet with the head of their government.

For the sake of argument, let's say McCain did understand the question. His response was muddled, changing the subject immediately to Mexico.

Clear speaking is a byproduct of clear thinking. At best, McCain left his remarks wide open to interpretation, at worst was confused or evasive. Hardly a plus in these extremely scary times.

It is clear that McCain thought they were talking about Mexico. Most likely his mind went "Zapatero=Zapatista=Zapata." Zapata was a Mexican revolutionary who died in 1919 and was protrayed by Marlon Brando in the 1952 movie "Viva Zapata."

The interviewer shows she knows that McCain is confused when she repeats, "I am talking about Spain." Keeping in mind that Spain is democracy and military ally in NATO, McCain's remarks make no sense at all unless he thinks he is talking about Latin American Mexico. Here is a transcript of the pertinent portion of the interview:

"Senator, finally, let's talk about Spain.

If you are elected President, would you be willing to invite President Jose Rodreguez Zapatera to the White House? To meet with you.

I would be willing to meet with those leaders who are friends and want to work with us in a cooperative fashion and by the way President Calderone of Mexico is fighting a - a very, very tough fight against the drug cartels. I'm glad we are now working in cooperation with the Mexican government on the Merida Plan and I intend to move forward with relations and invite as many of them as I can of those leaders to the White House.

Would that invitation be extended to the Zapatero government - to the President itself?

I don't - you know - honestly I have to look at the relations and the situations and the priorities but I can assure you I will establish closer relations with our friends and I will stand up uh to those who do harm to the United States. I know how to do both.

So you have to wait and see whether he is willing to meet with you or will you be able to do it - in the White House.

Well, again, I don't - all I can tell you is that I have a clear record of working with leaders in the hemisphere who are friends to us and standing up to those who are not and that's judged on the basis of the importance of our relationship to Latin America ... and the entire region.

Okay, What about you. I am talking about the President of Spain.

What about me what?

Okay, are you willing to meet with him if you are elected President?

I am willing to meet with any leader who is dedicated to the same principles and philosophy that we are for human rights, democracy, and freedom, and I will stand up to those that do not."

I read Zapatero respond and I had to shake my head when he said that he will work with the New American Administration " have the color it has". WTF!Glad to know that Zapatero will not hold Obama "color " against him.

No matter how you cut it. Very bad week for mcLame!

It is plain - Of Spain - McCain has a lot of Explain

McCain is in good command of the details in speaking about the Latin American leaders and countries in the first couple of minutes so I doubt he doesn't know where Spain is or who the President of Spain was when presented with the information. The interviewer's accent is somewhat thick which adds to the confusion. But I buy this explanation that he was ducking the question because Spain left Iraq after the right wingers in that country lost the election after the Madrid bombing. So McCain has some bitter feelings about having to meet a non-right wing NATO ally.

I think this looks bad for McCain no matter what interpretation you choose to go by.

Yeah, "not confused, just ducking" ranks up there "McCain can't use a computer 'cuz of his war wounds" and a stone-cold drunk's ole "the gun didn't know I was loaded" defense. It's not remotely possible.

I'm sorta sad to see the depths to which die-hard GOP-ers must sink to explain away McCain's obvious mental deficiencies and/or willful ignorance. Almost makes one nostalgic for the comparative clarity of Ronald Reagan. Almost.

-AF
Andrew Sullivan Is A Fraud

I'm beginning to fear that John McCain may not be lucid enough to lead the United States.

It's clear McCain did not understand the question, and gave a generic answer for dealing with Latin America. When he realized he had messed up, he decided to pretend he was really speaking about his attitude towards Spain.

Given a choice between political damage (admitting his mistake) and national interest (maintaining good relations with a major NATO ally), McCain said screw our national interest, we've got an election to win.

How is that putting Country First?