2008 Election CoverUps

Obama's 57-State gaffe

July 2008

It Isn't A Big Deal, But It Reveals Some Interesting Things All The Same

By Andrew Peterson
For CoverUps.com

Out on the campaign trail in Beaverton, Oregon, Barack Obama made a gaffe that has brought him a lot of unwelcome attention. Not surprisingly, Obama's friends and foes have had different takes on the whole thing. Let's take a brief look at what's been said about the gaffe, what it means for liberals, and conservatives, and what it says about how we elect our leaders. Here is what Obama said while campaigning in Beaverton, Oregon, as reported by Snopes.com.

... 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 fifty ... seven states? I think one left to go. Alaska and Hawaii, I was not allowed to go even though I really wanted to visit but my staff would not justify it.

Conservatives claim that had John McCain made this kind of blunder, it would have unleashed a torrent of "McCain Is Too Old To Be President" stories – but since it was Obama's slip, it was written off as mere fatigue. CoverUps sees a lot of truth in this suspicion. But there's another thread to this story, which Snopes explores and debunks:

... based on the (spurious) rumor that Senator Obama is a Muslim, someone came up with the fanciful idea that his mention of "fifty-seven" states was a reference to the Organization of the Islamic Congress (OIC), which has 57 member states. (Actually the OIC encompasses 60 countries altogether: 57 member states, and 3 observer states.)

The actual intent behind Senator Obama's misstatement is easy to discern without the need to invoke an obscure international organization. He was trying to express the thought that in all the time he had spent on the campaign trail so far in 2007-008, he had visited all 48 (of the) states in the continental U.S. save for one (i.e., "one left to go," excluding Alaska and Hawaii), but in his weariness he slipped up and started off with "fifty" instead of "forty.) (Note the long pause in the video clip between the words "fifty" and "seven.")

Our Take

We don't think we're going too far out on a limb when we say we think Presidential campaigns are too long. There was a time in this country's history when it was traditional for Presidential candidates not to campaign at all. It was looked upon as beneath the dignity of the candidate (considering the circuses we make of campaigns today I think folks in the 19th century had a point), and so was farmed out to assistants and surrogates. We believe this was the case with Abraham Lincoln in 1860 – and the country was literally on the brink of Civil War. Today's insane campaign schedules seem almost tailor-made to make candidates look foolish and say dumb things while in states of extreme exhaustion.

For the record, there are more reasons than we can count to be opposed to Barack Obama in his quest for the oval office. His terrible socialist ideas. His woeful lack of experience. His bad judgment. His dishonesty. There's no need to add half-baked conspiratorial insinuations like "He's a Muslim". Let's just stick with the issues. We have more than enough ammunition to beat him with there.

Link to article.