media finally paying some attention to McCain's many errors and flip-flops

Details sometimes fall away as McCain campaigns

WASHINGTON - Details can bedevil any presidential candidate. Republican John McCain announced this week that he backs an anti-affirmative action referendum that has drawn sharp debate in Arizona, his home state. Then he added a curious note: He doesn't know that much about it.

And when McCain was asked earlier this month about insurance coverage for Viagra but not contraceptives, he admitted he wasn't sure about that issue, though he had once voted against requiring coverage for birth-control pills.

At times McCain can appear to be short on details. In some instances, he has made misstatements or eyebrow-raising comments during the long days of campaigning in front of cameras and microphones. Sympathetic listeners call them understandable slips of the tongue and question whether any candidate can know everything. Opponents call them gaffes, or worse.

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Of course, they're trying to say that Obama does the same thing, though his slips-of-the-tongue are just that, while McCain obviously changes what he means - or just has no idea what he means.