John McCain said that we'd be fighting more wars, but I had no idea when he said it that Spain could be a part of those "rogue" nations. Our NATO ally and specifically Prime Minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, was dissed by McCain in an interview by El Pais, the largest newspaper in Spain. Either it was a slap in the face, or McCain completely forgot who Zapatero and with that, what his talking point should be.
From ThinkProgress:
McCain proceeded to launch into what appeared to be a boilerplate declaration about Mexico and Latin America — but not Spain — pressing the need to stand up to world leaders who want to harm America. “I will meet with those leaders who are our friends and who want to work with us cooperatively,” according to one translation. The reporter repeated the question two more times, apparently trying to clarify, but McCain referred again to Latin America.Finally, the questioner said, “Okay, but I’m talking about Europe - the president of Spain, would you meet with him?” The Senator offered only a slight variance to his initial comment. “I will reunite with any leader that has the same principles and philosophy that we do: human rights, democracy, and liberty. And I will confront those that don’t [have them].”
What was the question praytell? Simply, would you meet with the head of the Spanish government. Apparently that was a tough one for the old "maverick." Then it gets worse today when the campaign responds to everyone's bewilderment. To make the candidate look competent, Randy Schunemann said that McCain did indeed mean to not meet with Zapatero, but didn't go into detail on why. It is especially odd because as TP points out, McCain said he would meet with our NATO ally back in April. For someone that claims to be strongest on foreign policy, this is a frightening development for a potential President of the United States.
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