RK ARCHIVE - Top 10 McCain Gaffes, Misstatements in Debate Last Night

1. Refused to shake Barack Obama's hand, after it was offered, at the end of the debate.

2. Rudely and disrespectfully called Obama "that one." (Tom Shales writes, "the snarled 'that one' also contributed to McCain's image as a kind of mean old Scrooge, not so much a battle-scarred warrior as an embittered one.")

3. Said "That requires a cool hand at the tiller." Obviously, the expression is either "cool head" or "steady hand." Perhaps John McCain's hand is "cool," but that might be for medical, not metaphorical, reasons. Ha.

4. Said he knows "how to get" bin Laden. Uh, hello? If you REALLY know how to get bin Laden, then why the F*** haven't you told your pal George Dubya Bush and gone in there and GOTTEN HIM? I mean, he only killed 3,000 Americans and all.
4a. If McCain's really going to "get" bin Laden, given that bin Laden is hiding out in Pakistan, how's McCain going to do that without launching a military attack into Pakistan, which is exactly what he's criticized Obama for saying he'd do?

4b. In 2002, McCain said, "I don't think it's...in the overall scheme of things it's that important" to capture bin Laden, and added, "Symbolically, he has great importance."

5. In criticizing Barack Obama for saying he'd get bin Laden, John McCain quoted his "hero" Teddy Roosevelt as saying "walk softly - talk softly but carry a big stick." The actual quote is "Speak softly and carry a big stick." Not quite, Senator.

6. McCain said that "Senator Obama has voted 94 times to either increase your taxes or against tax cuts." The only problem is, by the same methodology, John McCain voted 105 times to increase taxes since 2005, and 477 times throughout his career. Whoops!

7. McCain said, "You know, like hair transplants. I might need one of those myself." Nobody laughed, and more importantly, this trivialized the issue of Americans desperately needing high-quality health care.

8. McCain said, "Nuclear power. Senator Obama says that it has to be safe or disposable or something like that." Uh, YEAH, Senator McCain, we DO want nuclear to be "safe or disposable or something like that." What, you DON'T want it to be "safe?" You don't want do deal with nuclear waste disposal issues? Alrighty, then!

9. He said he would consider Meg Whitman or Warren Buffett as his Treasury Secretary, but conveniently forgot to mention Phil "Nation of Whiners" Gramm, who the Wall Street Journal said "would almost certainly be Treasury Secretary in a McCain administration"

10. McCain said that "we ended up having to withdraw in humiliation" from Somalia. Maybe part of the reason for this is Sen. McCain's own admission that "On October 14, 1993, eleven days after the ambush of our rangers in Mogadishu, I offered an amendment on the Senate floor restricting funds for American forces in Somalia to the purpose of their 'prompt and orderly withdrawal." That's right, Senator McCain voted to CUT OFF FUNDS for U.S. troops in harms' way.

Comments

Fannie/Freddie (Lowell - 10/8/2008 7:42:54 AM)

McCain talked about "Senator Obama and his cronies and friends in Washington" and blamed them for Fannie and Freddie, while news accounts have pointed out his "deeper" ties to the companies. Bit his own campaign manager, Rick Davis, fought against greater regulation for years, and then his firm was revealed to be taking $15,000 a month until this summer from Freddie Mac, after denying any recent ties.

Don't forget the healthcare gaffe (Great Blue - 10/8/2008 7:55:08 AM)

McCain criticized Obama's healthcare plan, saying Obama would impose mandates and fines on small businesses. Not true. Apparently, the Clinton-Obama primary debates happened after John's bedtime, because the whole difference between Hillary's plan and Obama's was the mandate feature.

Why is John McCain running against Hillary's healthcare plan? Did they mix in some of the pink flashcards with some of the blue flashcards in his debate prep? Oops!

The discussion is beginning to change (Josh - 10/8/2008 8:02:31 AM)

Talking heads are starting to have conversations on the topic of "what WILL president Obama mean to America and the World?"

Yeah, there's the caveat... "I don't want to jinx it, nothing's certain", but at this point, McCain has lost every battle and the expectation is that he has lost the war.

CSpan (Jill - 10/8/2008 8:33:40 AM)

I don't know how many people watched the debate on CSpan, but if you didn't you missed something special at the end. After it was over, McCan't left the hall, but Obama stayed behind and we got to watch the Obamas intereact with the audience. They shook hands, took countless pictures and just connected with the people. It reminded me why I felt so inspired by him in the first place. McCan't lost an opportunity to show how he connects....but I guess he had more important things to do, maybe dinner reservations somewhere.

I noticed that too... (batonmommy - 10/8/2008 8:45:19 AM)

and Cindy McCain looked like she was afraid of catching a disease from the commoners if she touched them. At the end of the night, I think the Obamas (Michelle too) shook the hand of every person in the hall and had their pictures taken with just about all of them. I was watching MSNBC and the Obamas were out there a good 20 minutes after the opponent left.

Afterwards (NP - 10/8/2008 10:26:21 AM)

I always watch CSPAN too. I also like to hear the call ins. I thought that maybe McCain had to go to the bathroom or something but they could have come back in. Instead Cindy seemed unable to mingle and they fled. There were no pictures taken of them with the people. What a missed opportunity. Even the chief petty officer wanted Michelle to write something for him, looked like more than a signature. He was very happy to speak with them.

McCain lost the election last night. And of course he couldn't bring up all that crap because it would have given Barack a chance to deal with it. They don't want that, they just want to sow dirt.

I thoroughly enjoyed watching each person surround the Obamas. It was hard to tell what was on their minds as they watched the debate. But they came alive in those last 10 minutes. I only noticed two hard heads who didn't seem to care about them. Everyone else was great.

Came alive is right (batonmommy - 10/8/2008 10:34:55 AM)

The audience seemed to go from a group watching a boring opera to a party toward the end with the Obamas out there. I also noticed the chief petty officer interact with both of them and I would have pegged him as for the opponent.

In Cindy's defense ... (LoudounLad - 10/8/2008 11:12:19 AM)

Well, not really, but she was wearing an arm sling a while back after a supporter shook her hand. I'd say "snapped it like a twig," but Cindy is more of an icicle.

Where McCain subliminally got the "cool hand" reference (Great Blue - 10/8/2008 8:38:05 AM)

With all the talk of Paul Newman's passing, obviously McCain was paying homage to the late screen star. In Cool Hand Luke, the title line comes from Luke winning a poker game. When pressed, he admits to having bluffed with a hand full of nothing, and says, "sometimes nothin' is a pretty cool hand."
How appropriate for McCain to have pulled this out. He's got nothin'.

Minor nit-pick... the handshake thing is in doubt (snolan - 10/8/2008 8:41:15 AM)

I am not so sure the cameras simply failed to pick up the close of debate handshake, and other bloggers are beginning to think it did happen and the clip we are seeing is a second handshake round where spouses are included.

Your basic premise that McCain bungled the debate badly is still valid, I'd just not chose to push that #1 point too hard as it may turn out to be false.

McCain's Biggest Mistake (jackiehva - 10/8/2008 8:58:08 AM)

For me, his selection of Sarah Palin as his VP was a HUGE mistake. She is totally unqualified to be VP and the thought of her addressing the UN, British Parliament, or any group other than a barbecue in Juno is unimaginable. That folksiness and winking is nauseating and sooooo unprofessional. But, whatever the outcome of the election, we won't have seen the last of Sarah and her First Dude.

McCain's biggest gaffee . . . (JPTERP - 10/8/2008 9:16:25 AM)

in my opinion wasn't last night . . .

It was probably this one:

Or the original one:

So this was the town hall appearance McCain was waiting for? (LoudounLad - 10/8/2008 9:57:10 AM)

To me, the overall "gaffe" was the letdown. Here McCain has been pushing for town hall appearances with Obama, and everybody's been talking about how this format is his strength, and then ... the man uses the same talking points many people have heard already, waddles around the stage like The Penguin, tries to make jokes that fall flat (that "hair transplants" bit was a dig at Biden), etc.

McCain may feel he's doing well in this format when surrounded by his base, but in a mixed-audience debate, condescension and mockery don't work. Stripped of them and the approving feedback of an all-Republican crowd, McCain's energy was sapped.

Plant-filled Town Hall Meetings (Hugo Estrada - 10/8/2008 10:46:10 AM)

that is McCain's strength.

Just thing about it, do we want to have another president who can only hear praises? Don't we already have one like that?

Not really a gaffe (Ingrid - 10/8/2008 10:58:10 AM)

McCain's home loan plan was passed by Congress months ago. All that mortgage companies or banks need to do is agree to rewriting the mortgage for a lower amount (a percentage of the current market value of the home) at a lower interest rate, and FHA would take care of the "loss". It's not really a gaffe on McCain's part, but it's NOT a new program! Well, maybe it is a gaffe.

Right, it's not a new program ... (LoudounLad - 10/8/2008 11:09:07 AM)

Which Joe Biden tried to get across to a frenetic Ann Curry on this morning's "Today" show. Wonder how long it'll take before it sinks in with the rest of the news media?

This is beautiful (Lawyer Mama - 10/8/2008 10:58:12 AM)

He made some lovely sounding comments about how he wouldn't "freeze" or cut veterans spending. Of course, you can't cut what you don't fund adequately in the first place.... Every time he starts rambling about what a friend he is to veterans, I want to throw something at the TV.

The only thing good that would come out of a McCain presidency is lots of great material for SNL.