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

Full List

Mistakes Were Made

  1. Palin's Phone Prank
  2. Palin's Not So Biggest Fan
  3. Palin's Protected Speech?
  4. McCain's "Role Model" Goes Rogue
  5. McCain's No-Show Joe
  6. McCain's Philosophy Flub
  7. Palin Gets Lieberman's Un-Endorsement
  8. Palin's Wardrobe Wipe Out
  9. Biden Fails the Crisis "Test"
  10. Palin's Primary Miseducation
  11. Palin's UnReal Remark
  12. Biden's Counting Conundrum
  13. McCain's Name-Calling
  14. Obama's Socialist Secret?
  15. McCain's Prisoner Dilemma
  16. McCain's "That One" Mess
  17. McCain's Misogyny?
  18. Palin's "McClellan" Mix-Up
  19. Palin's Roe v. Wade Confusion
  20. Palin's Reading Rainbow
  21. Back to the Future?
  22. Palin's Border War
  23. Palin's Couric Crash
  24. McCain's Skipped Reading
  25. McCain's Freddie Mac Miscue
  26. Reverse Attack Ad
  27. Coal Conundrum
  28. Palin's Bonds Bumble
  29. McCain's Intriguing Invention
  30. McCain's CEO Slip-Up
  31. McCain's Weak Fundamentals
  32. McCain's Spain Snafu
  33. Palin's Doctrine?
  34. An Unlikely Endorsement
  35. Obama's Penn State Fumble
  36. A "Stand Up" Slip Up
  37. Biden's Palin Demotion
  38. Obama's "Muslim" Mishap
  39. McCain's Green Screen, Take 2
  40. Palin's Takeover Tale
  41. Palin's Pledge of Allegiance
  42. McCain's ER Care Plan
  43. Obama's Geography Goof
  44. Biden's "Barack" Bungle
  45. Obama's Presidential Introduction
  46. McCain's Housing Crisis
  47. McCain's Rich Index
  48. McCain's Surge Screw-up
  49. McCain's Geography Glitch
  50. Obama's Muslim Snub
  51. McCain's "Czechoslovakia" Confusion
  52. Obama's History Lesson
  53. Obama's Unfriendly Behavior
  54. Clinton's RFK Tribute?
  55. McCain's Gramm Gaffe
  56. Obama's Translation Trip-Up
  57. McCain's Tobacco Warning
  58. McCain's Lobbyist Loss
  59. McCain's Social Security "Disgrace"
  60. Clinton's Color Barrier
  61. Obama's Presumptuous Presidential Seal
  62. Obama's "Bitter" Bungle
  63. McCain's Terrorism Tussle
  64. Clinton's Colombia Crash
  65. Clinton's Middle East Mishap
  66. Obama's "Typical" Grandma
  67. McCain's Unruly Underlings
  68. McCain's Sunni/Shi'ite Slip
  69. McCain's Hapless Halloween
  70. Clinton's Sniper Misfire
  71. Obama's Power Outage
  72. Clinton's Race Rationale
  73. Obama's Pastor Problem
  74. McCain's Hagee Moment
  75. McCain's Freudian Slip
  76. McCain's "Hussein" Hiccup
  77. Obama's NAFTAgate
  78. Obama's "Proud" Wife
  79. Obama's Word Game
  80. Clinton's Bill Problem
  81. Clinton's BET Backer
  82. Clinton's MLK Mischaracterization
  83. Romney's Mistaken March
  84. Huckabee's Ghost Ad
  85. Huckabee's Pakistan Problems
  86. Huckabee's Mormon Mess
  87. Clinton's Drug Dilemma
  88. Clinton's Forwarding Firing
  89. Huckabee's Intelligence Failure
  90. Clinton's Kindergarten Kicker
  91. Clinton's War Dance
  92. Mitt's Muslim Cabinet
  93. Romney's Push Poll Problem
  94. McCain's Swearing Supporters
  95. Rudy's Tortured Past
  96. Rudy's Health Care Hiccup
  97. Kucinich's Alien Encounter
  98. Biden's Education Gap
  99. Obama's Gospel Glitch
  100. Romney's Anti-Terror Misfire
  101. Tancredo's Turf War
  102. McCain's Mormon Mix-Up
  103. Thompson's Judgment Call
  104. McCain's Christian Notion
  105. Rudy's Busy Signal
  106. Rudy's Got a Gun
  107. Romney's Legal Debate
  108. Rudy's Speech Police
  109. Thompson's Drilling Debacle
  110. Romney's Medical Error
  111. Richardson's Acronym Accident
  112. Thompson's Schiavo Slip
  113. McCain's MoveOn Misfire
  114. Phoney Romney?
  115. Rudy to the Rescue
  116. Romney's Parental Patriotism
  117. Tancredo's Holy War
  118. Thompson's Tax Dodge
  119. Romney Gets Lost in MySpace
  120. Romney Plays Cops and Robbers
  121. Romney's Photo Flop
  122. Richardson's Foul Ball
  123. Romney's Clark Griswold Moment
  124. Hillary's (Out of) Tune
  125. Obama's Bad Call
  126. Huckabee's Grand Gitmo
  127. Huckabee's Belated Birthday Wish
  128. Giuliani's Mormon Miscue
  129. Edwards' Cliff Notes
  130. Richardson Switch Hits
  131. McCain's Wild Shot
  132. Rudy's Poor Harvest
  133. Romney Double Downs on Gitmo
  134. Romney's Family Values
  135. Obama Crunches the Numbers
  136. Romney's French Twist
  137. Romney's Science Friction
  138. Richardson's Sharpton Slip
  139. Romney's Reich Turn
  140. McCain Bombs On Stage
  141. Richardson Goes Gonzo
  142. Edwards' Hairy Cut
  143. Rudy's Price Check
  144. Romney's Hunting Accident
  145. McPeak's McCarthy Comparison
  146. Giuliani Goes Multiple Choice
  147. McCain's Iraq Marketing
  148. Rudy's Two-for-One Special
  149. Obama Plays Dumb
  150. McCain's Tar Baby
  151. McCain Gets Stumped
  152. Romney Gets Lost in Translation
  153. McCain's Wasted Words
  154. Romney's French Boogeyman
  155. Hillary and the Foreign Media
  156. Hillary's Hollywood Shuffle
  157. Edwards' Blogging Backtrack
  158. Hillary's Oil Slip
  159. A Dubious Compliment
  160. Edwards' Separate Peace
  161. Rudy Plugs a Leak
  162. Romney Dodges the Surge
  163. Edwards Plays Games with Wal-Mart
  164. Huckabee's Bad Taste
  165. Biden's State of Confusion
  166. Diversity in Delaware?

Poll Results

  1. Ranking the Gaffes

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