During the interview the interviewer asked McCain about his attitude toward several leaders -- one of which is Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero -- the current prime minister of Spain -- a NATO ally with troop commitments in Afghanistan, and a victim and ally in the war against Al Qaeda.
When asked if he would meet Zapatero, McCain was non-committal.
Talking Points Memo has some additional background on this story: http://talkingpointsmemo.com/a...
There are a couple bizarre angles to this story.
1. It's conceivable that McCain simply does not know who Zapatero is. Truth be told, I didn't either before three days ago -- and I suspect many other Americans don't either. Still, I'm not running for president.
2. The other side of the coin here is that McCain DID know who Zapatero is -- and he went out of his way to snub him. In many ways that's even worse.
Keith Olbermann ran a bit on this, which is worth watching.
http://video.msn.com/video.asp...
A couple of the cable news networks -- CNN and MSNBC have done some coverage. Fox obviously doesn't want to call the story to the attention of its viewership. No coverage yet on the major networks that I've been able to find. This strikes me as a significant story. McCain's comments could have negative consequences for our relations with a European ally -- never mind the potential chilling effects that it might have with our other NATO allies (e.g. it suggests that McCain is willing to let a grudge over Spanish withdrawal in Iraq compromise the mission in Afghanistan).