wow - an article recounting some of McCain's latest f'k-ups

Road still bumpy for McCain's retooled bandwagon

HUDSON, Wis. - Every presidential campaign has its hitches. For John McCain, they felt more like full-blown lurches this week, with nearly every step forward quickly offset by a misstatement or wisecrack that seemed to blow his message off course.
It was the week McCain hoped to show off his newly focused, smoother-running operation after he rearranged his campaign hierarchy and acknowledged errors in the staging of events and other matters.
---

A brief recap of McCain's week:

_Monday: At an otherwise well-received town hall event in Denver, McCain described the Social Security system as it currently operates as "an absolute disgrace" and said "it's got to be fixed." Liberal groups seized on the comment. McCain later said the disgrace is that young workers will not benefit from the program if long-term financing problems are not addressed. He vowed to work with Democrats and Republicans to do so.

_Tuesday: After ordering a cheesesteak sandwich at a popular Pittsburgh hangout, McCain invited reporters' questions. Asked about surprisingly large shipments of cigarettes to Iran, where U.S. exports are discouraged, McCain quipped: "Maybe that's a way of killing them." The joke seemed less funny a day later, when he somberly criticized Iran's test-firing of missiles. Bloggers, cable news shows and others replayed the sound bite repeatedly.

_Thursday: In a Detroit suburb, McCain fielded questions from a partly skeptical audience of autoworkers. Things got worse with news of the "nation of whiners" comment by former Sen. Phil Gramm, a top economic adviser to McCain. McCain, who spent the week highlighting the public's concern about the economy, quickly tried to distance himself from his former colleague and longtime friend. "Phil Gramm does not speak for me. I speak for me," McCain said.

_Friday: The calmest day of McCain's week nonetheless included one of those odd moments that cause some supporters to wonder about his political dexterity. A woman at the Hudson forum denounced the Democratic Party and asked McCain if he would "hammer away at their socialist, Marxist philosophy." His "yes" response drew wild applause.

---

Pretty amazing that the media is even acknowledging these major mistakes, though they do seem to be down-playing them. Still, nice to see the spotlight on McCain for a change instead of constantly focusing on non-issues of Obama's.