Are verbal gaffes by the virtually-certain Republican nominee Senator John McCain slips-of-the-tongue? Or, in some cases, are they deliberate? Here’s a MUST-READ on this issue..
And here are the possibilities:
(1) McCain is sloppy in his initial thinking and presentation. If this is true, it’ll be more notable as the campaign goes on. In many of these instances, Connecticut Independent Senator Joe Lieberman has been at the scene of the verbal crime to jump in and correct him (on subjects such as Al Qaeda and even the Jewish holiday of Purim). But Lieberman can’t be standing next to McCain correcting him during the Presidential debate.
(2) It is strategic. It is said to target audiences and to try and get it “out there” in sound bytes. Once again, this will become more evident as the campaign goes on and if it appears to be strategic in some instances, then the press will call him on it, the Democrats will have an issue and McCain will start to have a credibility problem.
McCain’s solution (if it is not strategic) is just to think a bit more before he talks. Too many gaffes and the material-seeking late-night comedians will turn him into a punchline.
Joe Gandelman is a former fulltime journalist who freelanced in India, Spain, Bangladesh and Cypress writing for publications such as the Christian Science Monitor and Newsweek. He also did radio reports from Madrid for NPR’s All Things Considered. He has worked on two U.S. newspapers and quit the news biz in 1990 to go into entertainment. He also has written for The Week and several online publications, did a column for Cagle Cartoons Syndicate and has appeared on CNN.