Tim already posted the new campaign line on McCain’s response to questions about Spanish Prime Minister Zapatero, but the problems is they simply don’t jibe with the transcript. As Josh Marshall points out, the audio shows very clearly that McCain doesn’t know Zapatero is a leader in Europe. He refers to “Latin America,” “this hemisphere,” and “the entire region.” Either he doesn’t know where Spain is, or he doesn’t know where Europe is, or he didn’t recall who Zapatero was. But there’s just no indication that he was articulating a policy toward Spain.
It’s irrelevant that McCain won’t commit to a “White House meeting” with Zapatero, (rather than just say, a meeting) because that’s not what he originally said at all. Scheunemann‘s response is simply another lie. All the campaign had to say was that it was a phone interview, and McCain couldn’t understand the reporter’s pronunciation, but instead, they’ve doubled down, Bush style.
–A. Serwer
