John McCain makes Spanish gaffs during interview By JUAN GONZALEZ [New York] DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER
Thursday, September 18th 2008, 1:51 PM Where is Spain, John McCain? Republican Presidential John McCain showed some confusion Wednesday night about the identity of the Prime Minister of Spain and exactly where that country of 40 million people is located. In an interview with a Florida affiliate of Spain's Union Radio, McCain was asked, if elected president, would he invite Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero to the White House. "I would be willing to meet with those leaders who are friends and want to work with us in a cooperative fashion," McCain said. He then mentioned Mexican President Calderon, who he said "is fighting a very tough fight against the drug cartels." When the reporter repeated that he was talking about Spain, McCain responded: "I know the issues, I know the leaders." Asked again if he would invite Zapatero, McCain shot back: "All I can tell you is that I have a clear record of working with leaders in the Hemisphere that are friends with us and standing up to those who are not and that's judged on the basis of the importance of our relationship with Latin America and the entire region." McCain's team insisted the candidate knew they were discussing the socialist leader of Spain. "The questioner asked several times about Senator McCain's willingness to meet Zapatero, and ID'd him in the question so there is no doubt Senator McCain knew exactly to whom the question referred," said McCain foreign policy adviser Randy Schuenemann told Politico.com. "Senator McCain refused to commit to a White House meeting with President Zapatero in this interview." Spain is a longtime NATO ally, has nearly 1,000 soldiers fighting with the U.S. in Afghanistan, and was the target one of the worst Al Qaeda attacks in 2004. It is also happens to be located in Europe, not the Western Hemisphere - and Zapatero is no johnny-come-lately: He's been in office for four years. -- Jim Devine / "Nobody told me there'd be days like these / Strange days indeed -- most peculiar, mama." -- JL. _______________________________________________ pen-l mailing list [email protected] https://lists.csuchico.edu/mailman/listinfo/pen-l
