Obama's Boo-Boos

I realize that it's been a long political campaign and people get pooped, but during a political stump speech in Oregon, Sen. Barrack Obama told the crowd he has traveled to almost all 57 states in the course of the campaign. I mean, really, 57 states? Where were the late night comedian jokes about that? The editorial cartoons? It really didn't get a lot of notice in the main stream media. Maybe if he had spelled 57 with an extra "e" at the end, they would have been all over it. Fifty seven states? He must have counted the ones his campaign didn't want seated at the convention.

Okay, fine 57 states. A minor mis-speak. But after the whole "bitter-gate" thing, where San Francisco people felt they needed to have Obama explain life beyond their city borders, people were starting to wonder. Obama spoke about the need for more Arabic speakers in Afghanistan. He was complaining that because of the war in Iraq all our Arabic translators are tied up there and we don't have enough to serve in Afghanistan. Granted, if you're looking to end the war in Iraq, maybe this isn't the strongest reason to put forth ("what do we want?" "Translators!" "When do we want them?" Now!"), even if it made sense, because as it turns out, the Afghans don't even speak Arabic. They speak Persian and Pashto. What do we make of this?He's too young for a senior moment so he just must be incompetent? If he's going to start having these senior moments now, what's he going to be like when he's John McCain's age?

Then Obama told ABC News that if he's the nominee for president, the GOP had better not make his wife, Michelle, an issue in the campaign. Said former first lady Hillary Clinton, "Yeah, good luck with that." I don't even think the GOP needs to get involved in this, as long as Michelle Obama keeps making public statements and all. Her views of the country make Debbie Downer look like Pollyanna.

As Hillary Clinton won the Kentucky primary, Obama tried to make the argument that it wasn't a big deal because it's so close to Arkansas, the state where Bill Clinton was governor and Hillary was first lady, like, two decades ago. Now, while it is true that Arkansas is kinda close to Kentucky, Obama's home state of Illinois actually boarders the place. They touch. You gotta figure some of the news and views about Obama leaked across state lines, you know? First there were rumblings that Obama wasn't black enough but now we have to wonder if he's astute enough.

And if that wasn't bad enough, Barack Obama tells interviewers about his uncle "who was part of the first American troops to go into Auschwitz and liberate the concentration camps." Which, as it turns out, wasn't the case; American troops didn't liberate Auschwitz; Soviet troops did. Fortunately, others were able to confirm that it was his great-uncle and it was Buchenwald that he help liberate, but like Al Gore and his invention, the internet, the GOP was all over that and working full out to make an issue of it. To the point that, really, would any of us be surprised to find out Obama's uncle was a Russian soldier?

Any more Dan Quayle moments like this and John McCain is going to have to make it an issue.