OBAMA GAFFES Obama Says The U.S. Senate Banking Committee Is "My Committee." Obama: "Just this past week, we passed out of the U.S. Senate Banking Committee, which is my committee, a bill…" (Obama Press Conference, Sderot, Israel, July 23, 2008) Obama Is Not A Member Of The U.S. Senate Committee On Banking, Housing, And Urban Affairs. (U.S. Senate Committee On Banking, Housing, And Urban Affairs Website, banking.senate.gov, Accessed 7/23/08) In June 2008, Obama Misstated The Name Of Brownsville, TX: Obama: "So if you've got a wall that's cutting the campus of the University of Texas in Brownville in half…" (Sen. Barack Obama, Remarks At The NALEO Conference, Washington, DC, 6/28/08) In June 2008, Obama Misstated The Name Of Brownsville, TX: Obama: "So if you've got a wall that's cutting the campus of the University of Texas in Brownville in half…" (Sen. Barack Obama, Remarks At The NALEO Conference, Washington, DC, 6/28/08) On May 23, Obama Mistakenly Says He's In "Sunshine" At Rally In Sunrise, Florida Obama: "How's it going Sunshine? Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you everybody. It's good to be in Sunshine!" (Barack Obama, Campaign Rally, Sunrise, FL, 5/23/08)
South Florida Sun-Sentinel: "It Wasn't Clear If Barack Obama Knew Exactly Where He Was Friday Afternoon …" "It wasn't clear if Barack Obama knew exactly where he was Friday afternoon when he spoke at his mass rally at the BankAtlantic Center. He repeatedly used the term 'Sunshine' as a place name rather than 'Sunrise,' the city where the arena is located, including, 'How's it going Sunshine? Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you everybody. It's good to be in Sunshine.'" ("Did Obama Know Where He Was For Sunrise Rally?" South Florida Sun-Sentinel Blog, 5/24/08)
On May 16, Obama Mistakenly Says He's In Sioux City At Sioux Falls, SD Rally. Obama: "Illinois Sen. Barack Obama started his speech tonight with a gaffe. 'Thank you Sioux City,' he
said, before realizing his mistake." ("Obama Starts Speech With Gaffe," Sioux Falls Argus Leader, 5/16/08) "I think that DOMA, the Defense Against Marriage Act, was, was a (sic) unnecessary imposition on what had been the traditional rules governing marriage and how states interact on the issues of marriage." – Barack Obama, referring to the Defense Of Marriage Act (DOMA), 7/1/08 Time's Page: Oooops!!!! The Land of Lincolner leaped back on stage after his final curtain call at a Manhattan fundraiser last night� he had forgotten to ask for donors' help with Hillary's debt. Associated Press: After a minute or so, the music was cut short and Obama returned to the stage. ''This is not the speech part, but it is important,'' he said sheepishly, urging the group to reassemble. New York Times: At this point, he was supposed to appeal for donations for her debt-relief fund, aides said. He evidently forgot and circled back to do so at the end of his remarks. New York Post: The lapse fanned the flames of recent tension over whether Team Obama is doing enough to dig Clinton out from her approximate $22 million hole. … As his parting music played and reporters surrounded an Obama press aide, the music suddenly ended, and Obama said he had "one more thing" to say. Wall Street Journal: At a Midtown Manhattan fundraiser designed to help raise cash for his campaign and help retire debt for his former opponent's, Barack Obama offered praise of Hillary Clinton. But he temporarily forgot to make his pitch about debt retirement. … Left unsaid on Tuesday was the fact that Clinton and Obama sat on different sides of the aisle on the key intelligence surveillance bill earlier in the day. LA Times: But what happened Wednesday night was a little embarrassing. After the two Democrats voted differently on the Senate's FISA retroactive surveillance O.K. bill, Obama flew Clinton from Washington to New York City… Oops! It seems Obama had forgotten to mention the part about giving money to Hillary Clinton in the spirit of unity, the whole reason they were gathered there in the first place. Bloomberg: While Obama had been expected to ask supporters at the Grand Hyatt to help Clinton retire her debt, he concluded his remarks after 25 minutes without saying anything about it. Just as reporters began to ask his staff why he didn't mention Clinton's debt, Obama interrupted the applause… Newsday: …Obama spoke to the crowd and was departing, to a backdrop of recorded music when he hustled back to the podium, and the music ceased.
New York Daily News: Obama, who held a separate fund-raiser earlier, asked his donors to pay down Clinton's debt - belatedly. He concluded his speech and was preparing to leave the stage to the music of Stevie Wonder when he dashed back to the microphone…
Obama Called Rapid City Grand Rapids. Obama: "We were in Grand Rapids with a—or Grand? – Rapid City. See I've been talking to long." (Sen. Barack Obama, Remarks At A Campaign Event, Aberdeen, SC, 5/31/08)
On May 13, Obama Mistakenly Said That Arabic Translators Deployed To Iraq Were Needed In Afghanistan, When Afghans Don't Even Speak Arabic (They Speak Other Languages Including Pashtu, Dari, And Farsi) And Those Fighters That Do Are Shooting At Our Troops, Not Talking To Them. "Sporting a shiny new American flag pin at an appearance in Rush Limbaugh's hometown, Sen. Barack Obama came up with some novel reasons why the U.S. may be struggling in the war in Afghanistan. 'We don't have enough capacity right now to deal with it -- and it's not just the troops,' Obama, D-Ill., told a crowd in Cape Girardeau, Missouri. Obama posited -- incorrectly -- that Arabic translators deployed in Iraq are needed in Afghanistan -- forgetting, momentarily, that Afghans don't speak Arabic. 'We only have a certain number of them and if they are all in Iraq, then its harder for us to use them in Afghanistan,' Obama said. The vast majority of military translators in both war zones are drawn from the local population. Naturally they speak the local language. In Iraq, that's Arabic or Kurdish. In Afghanistan, it's any of a half dozen other languages -- including Pashtu, Dari, and Farsi." (David Wright and Sunlen Miller, "Obama Gaffes On Iraq And Afghanistan," ABC News, 5/13/08)
On May 9, Obama Claimed To Have Visited 57 States. Obama: "Because, you know, it is just wonderful to be back in Oregon, and over the last 15 months we've traveled to every corner of the United States. I've now been in 57 states, I think, one left to go. One left to go, Alaska and Hawaii I was not allowed to go to even though I really wanted to visit, but my staff would not justify it." (Sen. Barack Obama, Remarks At A Campaign Event, Beaverton, OR, 5/9/08) On May 5, Obama Called Matt Lauer "Tim" Three Times In One Interview, Had To Be Corrected By Lauer. Obama: "Well, I think what it is, Tim, is, you know, that no person is defined by a few snippets taken over the course of a number of years …Well, Tim, I think that all of us have people in our lives who may have done some good things, and then we also see them doing some things that are disappointing. … Well, Tim, first of all, it's not me who's criticized these proposals." … NBC's Matt Lauer: "I just want to say, I know you've had a very long week, and so have I. You're saying Tim. I know, it's Matt Lauer. But believe me, I completely understand." Obama: "Matt, I'm sorry." Lauer: "We've both had a long week, Senator, believe me." (NBC's "Today," 5/5/08)