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

Palin's UnReal Remark

Sarah Palin speaks at a campaign rally.

Bill Pugliano / Getty
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Sarah Palin
Oct. 16, 2008


"We believe that the best of America is in these small towns that we get to visit, and in these wonderful little pockets of what I call the real America, being here with all of you hard-working, very patriotic, um, very, um, pro-America areas of this great nation."

Palin at a fundraiser in Greensboro, North Carolina, suggesting only some parts of the country are "pro-America." A spokesperson later said that Palin wasn't insulting D.C., but rather was "reinforcing the message that the best of our America isn't confined to our nation's capitol." In a CNN interview the following week, Palin apologized and said she doesn't want that remark "misunderstood," without elaborating as to what she did really mean


— Katie Rooney


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