Before I begin, let me state unequivocally two things:
1. This is not a political post
2. Barack Obama is a very smart person.
That being said, if Dan Quayle had said this . . .
George W. is famous for gaffs too (and they make good fodder for late night hosts everywhere). If W. forgot what city he was in, or misremembered how many states there are in the Union, people would have been guffawing for weeks.
The Snopes link above both affirms the "57 state" gaff and gives an entirely reasonable explanation for it, which I'll bottom-line for you: these guys are human. They get tired. They say things that sound dumb. They forget things. Tongues get tied.
But none of them are unintelligent. You don't get to where they've gotten by being dumb.
- C.S. Lewis
Trackback URL: http://thinklings.org/bloo.trackback.php/4797.
He can play basketball at least. :)
Anyway, it's all about the Story. The Story is written before the events that make up the details.
The Story of this campaign is that McCain is old, elitist, out of touch, senile, evil, just like Bush, etc. So if he misspeaks, it's because he is senile. If he can't remember how many houses his wife owns, he is out of touch.
However, the Story for Obama is that he is smart, creative, a man of the people, eloquent, the savior of our nation. If he misspeaks, then he is only tired, only human. If he claims to his rich doners that poor people "cling" to guns and religion, well, he's right isn't he?
Remember Dan Rather and the Bush National Guard memos. Even though the story itself was a fraud, the bigger Story was true - that Bush was a slacker who got off because of his father's influence.
With the media this biased it's a wonder that Obama and McCain are this close. :)
Hey! I bowl a 30 and I'm short so I can't play basketball well. Not all of us have that sport skill.
I completely agree. The 30 bowling score troubles me much more. I don't mind a president that misspeaks from time to time........but doggone it, he needs to be coordinated!.......30 is woeful....you would have to throw like a pre-school girl to get a 30.