Catching our Breath

For the last couple of weeks I've been intending to sit down and write an entry here. But before I get to actually do it, some big news emerges and I decide that I'd better wait until I've had time to digest it before writing anything. Since it now appears that we may have this pattern from now until Election Day, I'd better just go ahead.

I do think that there was a great deal of anticipation towards last night's debate and now that it's over this is a time to catch our breath and think back to all that has happened.

I took a crucial moment in the campaign to be an incident that Senator Obama alluded to in the debate. On September 17, Senator McCain was being interviewed for a Spanish language radio news program. The interviewer asked him about a number of South American countries and leaders. Then she said that they were switching topics to Spain and asked him about the Spanish Prime Minister. I've listened to the recording and Senator McCain sounds like he does not quite understand the interviewer and gives a boilerplate answer that we will have good relations with our friends and stand up to our enemies. The interviewer tries to give him another chance but McCain resists and clings to his answer.

Now, one can talk about this as a a gaffe and use it as a gotcha moment. It sounded to me like the Senator's mind wandered or he couldn't understand the question because of the reporter's accent, or he just got confused. I think the temptation to take this as a sign that Senator McCain does not know where Spain is or who the leader is, is unfortunate. It is difficult to have a reasonable conversation about important issues under this kind of pressure.

BUT! The test of character and leadership is what one does when this kind of mistake happens. The next day, Senator McCain's national security adviser, Randy Scheunemann, said that his candidate knew exactly what he was saying. Further, he went on to emphasize the uncertainty of the relationship between the US and Spain under Prime Minister Zapatero.

Now the question is more seriously about the extent to which these guys will recklessly jeopardize foreign policy matters to save themselves embarrassment. Haven't we learned over the last eight years, that's a bad strategy? Or, to what extent will the neocons in a McCain administration take advantage of these mistakes to advance their own agenda?