In honor of our upcoming historic election tomorrow, I’ve compiled some of the funniest campaign gaffe’s for your viewing pleasure, enjoy!
John McCain
“Joe’s with us today. Joe where are you? Where is Joe? Is Joe with us today? All right. Well, you’re all Joe the Plumbers, so all of you stand up!”
—McCain, calling Joe Wurzelbacher (commonly known as “Joe the Plumber”) to the stage at a rally in Defiance, Ohio. Wurzelbacher didn’t attend the rally, though he was on hand for a later event for McCain in Sandusky.
Joe Lieberman
Oct. 25, 2008
“Thank God, she’s not going to have to be president from Day One. McCain’s going to be alive and well.”
—Sen. Joe Lieberman, a John McCain supporter, when asked whether Sarah Palin is ready to be commander-in-chief. Lieberman later reassured voters about McCain’s health, saying, “I talked to doctors and insurance actuaries. And they tell me based on McCain’s age, his health, including skin cancer, he’ll live till at least 85.”
Sarah Palin
Oct. 22, 2008
“The Republican National Committee has spent more than $150,000 to clothe and accessorize vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin and her family since her surprise pick by John McCain in late August.”
—A Politico story, breaking the news that the RNC spent a large sum on building Palin’s wardrobe before the convention. The campaign later insisted that the clothes will be donated to charity after the election. Palin has also brought up the issue on the stump without being prompted (and reportedly against the campaign’s wishes) in an attempt to defend herself, saying she is usually “frugal,” that the clothes “are not my property” and that she had nothing to do with choosing them in the first place. The finger-pointing over the clothes flap reflected rising tensions between Palin and McCain staff, as well as differences between the campaign and the RNC.
Joe Biden
Oct. 20, 2008
“Mark my words. It will not be six months before the world tests Barack Obama like they did John Kennedy. The world is looking. We’re about to elect a brilliant 47-year-old senator president of the United States of America. Remember, I said it standing here, if you don”t remember anything else I said. Watch, we’re going to have an international crisis, a generated crisis, to test the mettle of this guy.”
—Biden at a fundraiser in Seattle, telling donors that Obama will likely be tested by an international crisis during his first few months in office — and that Democrats will have to be ready to stand by him in such a trying time. The GOP pounced on the remark, saying it underscores Obama’s inexperience, and McCain made it a major talking point at rallies, claiming that he had already been tested. The Obama camp, at pains to explain what point the gaffe-prone Senator was trying to make, has said that he was referencing a “simple fact that history shows presidents face challenges from day one.”
Sarah Palin
Oct. 20, 2008
“They’re in charge of the U.S. Senate so if they want to they can really get in there with the senators and make a lot of good policy changes that will make life better.”
—Palin, during an interview with an NBC affiliate in Colorado, when asked by a third-grader what exactly the vice president does. While Article I of the Constitution indeed stipulates that the VP will be “President of the Senate,” he or she is only allowed to vote when the Senate is “equally divided.” Ironically, Palin publicly asked herself this same question in July.
Sarah Palin
Oct. 16, 2008
“We believe that the best of America is in these small towns that we get to visit, and in these wonderful little pockets of what I call the real America, being here with all of you hard-working, very patriotic, um, very, um, pro-America areas of this great nation.”
—Palin at a fundraiser in Greensboro, North Carolina, suggesting only some parts of the country are “pro-America.” A spokesperson later said that Palin wasn’t insulting D.C., but rather was “reinforcing the message that the best of our America isn’t confined to our nation’s capitol.” In a CNN interview the following week, Palin apologized and said she doesn’t want that remark “misunderstood,” without elaborating as to what she did really mean.
Mon, Nov 3, 2008
Pop Culture