07/28/2008 03:53:04 AM EST

Another McCain Gaffe? Calling Gen. Petraeus the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff?

posted by Cenk

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. Why? Because John McCain has had so many gaffes in the last couple of weeks, let alone the whole campaign, that it has gotten to the point where you have to question if there is something wrong with him.

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So, with all of that being said, I am ironically going to point out a second possible gaffe for John McCain in a row. Why? Because John McCain has had so many gaffes in the last couple of weeks, let alone the whole campaign, that it has gotten to the point where you have to question if there is something wrong with him.

One or two gaffes in the course of a campaign are perfectly normal. Half a dozen in a week is crazy. That's outside of the normal range of mistakes. Does he remember things clearly? Does he not know the material in the first place?

So, here is his latest possible gaffe, brought to our attention by a Young Turks listener, Rich Kelly. Senator McCain said this to George Stephanopoulos in his interview on Sunday:

MCCAIN: I believe that, when he said that we had to leave Iraq, and we had to be out by last March, and we had to have a date certain, that was in contravention to -- and still is -- the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General David Petraeus.

Of course, Gen. Petraeus is not the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Admiral Mike Mullen is. That is a terrible mistake, if he really meant that. This is supposed to be his field of expertise and he has talked about Gen. Petraeus approximately one billion times.

I went back and watched the video of the interview about four times. It is possible to argue that he meant Gen. Petraeus and the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. But that is not what he said.

You could give him the benefit of doubt and I don't think he actually thinks Petraeus is the chairman of JCS. But within the context of all of his other gaffes, one has to wonder. Is he slipping and making simple mistakes on a regular basis?

Again, if this was an isolated incident by itself, I'm not sure I would even bring it up. What is much more relevant is the claim Senator McCain made in the interview that if we had listened to Sen. Obama and started making preparations to leave Iraq last year, there would have been chaos and genocide. At the same time, he believes it was the right decision to invade Iraq in the first place. We invaded Iraq and caused the country to teeter on the edge of chaos and genocide but it was still a good idea to go in? That seems to be an unbelievable comment to make.

But within the context of all of McCain's other gaffes, his Gen. Petraeus comment has to be questioned as well. I'm not sure we can trust him to be on top of his game on even the simplest things at this point.

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Another McCain Gaffe? Calling Gen. Petraeus the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff? | 7 comments (7 topical, 0 hidden)
Inattention or senility (none / 0)

This could just be an issue of trying to think ahead of the conversation.  He's sticking to talking points, the same ones used over and over again by the Republicans.   I wonder if the mistakes are associated with him frantically trying to work his talking points into the conversation and not paying close attention to what he's actually saying.  Either way I find his thinking muddy and uncertain.

There is always the possibility that he's suffering from the effects of age.  My mother started telling me something was wrong with Reagan a full two years before his second term ended.  She would say "I'm telling you, there's something not right with him.  He's getting senile or something".  I've learned to pay attention when she says things like that.  I'll have to ask her if she sees it in McCain.

by bfaul on 07/28/2008 12:27:47 PM EST

McCain's worldview (none / 0)

I don't know that I agree with this line of thinking but isn't McCain painting a picture of a world where dealing with foreign affairs is the key (if not only) required skill?

Doesn't an almost complete inability to communicate a comprehensive thought matter a whole hell of a lot in that world?

Doesn't being a world class communicator go a long way to qualifying you for that job?

Put a couple of thoughts behind it.

by ProfRich on 07/28/2008 01:10:57 PM EST

[ Parent ]
Yes, yes, and yes (none / 0)

By no means am I arguing he's qualified for the job.  He blew his credibility with me when he started hugging on Bush years ago.  I'm just speculating on why he's making so many of these mistakes.

by bfaul on 07/28/2008 02:14:23 PM EST

[ Parent ]
and a funny campaign gaffe (none / 0)

As pointed out in Crooks & Liars today, McCain's ad dissing Obama for going to the gym instead of visiting wounded troops actually shows him playing basketball with "hundreds" of soldiers rather than at a gym.

by desertpear on 07/28/2008 01:28:22 PM EST

Great catch Rich! (none / 0)
By the way, if anyone has a DailyKos account, click here and recommend Cenk's blog.

And if you don't have one, what are you waiting for? It's fast, it's free and there's always good stuff to read and recommend over there.

by Tom Hanc on 07/28/2008 02:58:31 PM EST

Beware the Rove Effect (none / 1)
Karl Rove used the "lowered expectations" tactic to exempt Bush from most close scrutiny, and McCain is trying to achieve that status right now.

If he succeeds, journalists will cease to care whether McCain mis-speaks or gaffes, because it will be the accepted norm. 

As they say, "Dog bites Man" isn't a story, but "Man bites Dog" is.  "Bush says something stupid" is not a story, but "Kerry says something not-quite-right" is.  Get it?

We Democrats can nip this in the bud by generating a massive reaction to McCain's gaffes now -- today.  Then next time he gaffes we will be justified in "blowing it all up" again and again.  That's what it's going to take.

by DigitalDave on 07/28/2008 04:25:57 PM EST

We need a gaff-o-meter. (none / 0)
Someone like Colbert, Stewart, or Olberman need to hav a Gaff-O-Meter to keep a list of all McCain's gaffs and measure them for their comparative inanity.

by Gregory Wonderwheel on 07/28/2008 09:04:24 PM EST

Another McCain Gaffe? Calling Gen. Petraeus the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff? | 7 comments (7 topical, 0 hidden)
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