Not too surprising considering we're about the same dodering age.
Of course forgetting about the entire country of Iran would be a bit much even for me.:)

Heh... it's all the same anyway... ;-)

(That's a JOKE, dammit)

Yeah, I can't remember the geography I learned in 7th grade anymore either.

ok, I'll grant you the 'if you don't use, it you lose it' ...but if I'm running for president, I might want to consider brushing up on the general vicinity of the people whom you are in support of war against.
Don't get me wrong, I'm all for outsourcing..everyone can't know everything- but that's a little like a surgeon telling me that my hip bone is connected to my shoulder bone..

It would be more like the Hospital Administrator telling you that.

Anyway, it is a common slip of the tongue and something that happens during a conversation but let's not make the mistake of thinking he actually didn't mean the Iran / Afghanistan border or that if any decisions were being made he'd know exactly which country was the subject of the discussion.

I suppose it could be worse though... he could have forgotten how many states there are in the US (see, <a href="http://conservative-compendium.com/blog/index.php?itemid=1050"> Barack "58 States" Obama</a>), or how long a president is able to serve (see, <a href="http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2008/07/obama_wants_to_be_president_81.html"> Barak "President for the next 8-10 years" Obama</a>).

Now which "gaffe" makes you more uncomfortable? Confusion over international geography... or confusion of BASIC US INFORMATION?

I don't think either gaffe is particularly newsworthy. People mess up when they're tired and these guys are bombarded with questions and are bound to slip up.

Like I said, when it matters (i.e. not in front of the cameras) I'm sure they're both smart enough to know the facts about whatever subject is being discussed.

The question is: Which guy do you want to be there making those decisions?

Yeah, you're right. Screwing up the number of states is much worse that not understanding the geography of the middle east. I would assume he's made quite a study of the region and just forgotten. Why would a president need to know where all those troublesome borders are anyway, he has staff.

I guess we can add geography along with the economy as several subjects he's not good with.

I'd rather have him be less of a foreign geography expert (but it was just a mistake), than not know the fundamental principles of the place he was trying to get in charge of.

Would you hire a man to manage your restaurant, if he didn't know what kind of food you serve?

Very much agreed.

Typical.

Comments about McCain making gaffes as does everyone especially public speakers and accusations of senility gets upvotes.

Obama's gaffes such as mentioned above, his belief that a bomb hit pearl harbor (a gaffe made much worse by the fact that he lived in Hawaii for so many years) his misspoken comments about his family's service in WWII, and a number of other gaffes are of course not a sign that he is dumb or incapable of leading the nation. At least no more than McCain's Bush's and everyone else's gaffes.

A post like this about Obama would result in downvotes galore as so most attacks against Obama (admittedly usually downvoted because of the manner in which the attack is made than because of the attack itself).

We could talk about his statement about the 10,000 deaths in Kansas due to tornadoes in one week when the death toll was actually 12.

Or his calling Sioux Falls, "Sioux City".

He also made geographical gaffes about the location of Arkansas and how close it is to kentucky. (he implied that Arkansas was closer to kentucky than illinois was)

Also gaffes about the languages spoken in some of the middle east countries.

Of course there was also his comment that we had no reason to fear Iran because “tiny countries” with small defense budgets can’t do us harm. (which he retracted of course)

Also his mis-remembering about a Life magazine article and photo that doesn't exist. (to be fair, I'd have a hard time remembering which magazine it was 30+ years afterwards)

There were a number of other gaffes as well.

If Obama really thought there were 57 states, that would be far far worse than getting tripped up on a matter of middle east geography or someone accidentally saying Iraq when they meant to say Iran. Obama doesn't think there are 57 states, he just misspoke due the stress of campaigning, public speaking, much the same as McCain and all the gaffes collected over the years from Bush.

Again, Obama's gaffes are not a sign of ignorance. However McCain's shouldn't be looked on as ignorance or senility either.

In all fairness McCain has said in plain english that he doesn't understand the economy or the people we are at war with. Obama misspoke (of course he knows the presidential term limits)

Both of them misspeak, and it is funny to catch, but not knowing key things about our own major problems and enemies is ridiculous.

Exactly correct.

Nice to see an intelligent comment devoid of all the predictable spin.

You mean spin like McCain is a "doddering old man" with implications of senility? :-)

Well that would be too easy ;)

Well, not exactly doddering but along those lines yes.

Being in McCain's age group I have many friends in their 70's. Many of them had quite responsible jobs and owned or ran companies.

There isn't a single one of them, myself included, that would claim they are nearly as sharp now as they were in their prime years.
Getting into your 70's definitly has a debilitating effect on the way your brain functions.

Does this sound surprising?

Of course that's why they have staff. But with some candidates you will need a lot more staff than others. ;)

That's why you surround yourself with experts. It's impossible to be an expert on everything. A presidential vote (IMO) should not be a vote for one person... but a team of people. McCain/Obama are the figureheads of their team, but you must consider all members of the team as being part of that one man.