Morning with John McCain
Mark Kleiman writes:
The Reality-Based Community: Note to John McCain: Ummm ... Senator? About this?
I'm afraid that it's a very hard struggle, particularly given the situation on the Iraq-Pakistan border. And I would not announce that I'm going to attack Pakistan, as Senator Obama did.
Iraq and Pakistan do not share a border. They'd like to share a border, they've tried to share a border, but 1000 miles of Iran and Afghanistan keep getting in the way. That was a mistake, Senator. You've been making a lot of those lately.
Barack Obama never announced that he was going to invade Pakistan. That was a lie, Senator. You've been telling a lot of those lately, too.
And, of course, Mark Ambinder's reaction is to say that Barack Obama doesn't know much about foreign affairs--that his need for daily paper is "a reflection on Obama's learning curve" and to endorse the Republican line-->"John [McCain] doesn't need daily talking points."
John McCain does too need daily talking points. John McCain needs talking points more than anybody I have ever seen.
Why oh why can't we have a better press corps?
UPDATE: Matthew Yglesias writes:
McCain's Gaffes: Mike Allen and Jim Van deHei finally take note of McCain's frequent gaffes. Interestingly, they view his proclivity for misstatements primarily through the lens of age -- perhaps McCain's getting old and losing his grip. To me, though, if take a broader look I think it's just a campaign that's not doing a good job of briefing people. We've seen Carly Fiorina not realize McCain disagrees with her about whether insurance companies should cover birth control, and several different McCain surrogates promise to "fully fund" No Child Left Behind even though that's not actually McCain's position.
Are they lazy? Are they arrogant? Understaffed? Have they just decided that these kind of mix-ups don't matter? I couldn't say for sure. But it's not a personal issue with McCain, it's reflective of a broader trend in his campaign toward people being unprepared.
