The Screwups of Campaign '08
Presidential campaigns are so carefully stage-managed that few things are as entertaining as the mistakes politicians make on the trail. Throughout the 2008 race, check out TIME.com's ongoing chronicle of each candidate's gaffes, and then vote on just how big a screwup each one is
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John McCain
Aug. 20, 2008
"I'll have my staff get to you."
—McCain, when asked by a reporter with Politico how many houses he and his wife, Cindy, own. The Obama campaign quickly pounced on the comment, creating an ad called "Seven" (referring to the number of houses his family owns, though Politico reports that his family actually owns eight properties). The ad closes with a shot of the White House and the narration: "Here's ONE house American can't afford to let John McCain move into." A McCain spokesperson later defended the Arizona Senator by saying, "This is a guy who lived in one house for five and a half years — in prison." He also countered that most of the properties were actually owned separately by Cindy McCain, not the two of them.
— M.J. Stephey
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