Quote For The Day

"We all misspeak sometimes. I've done it myself. So on such a basic, factual error, you'd think that Senator McCain would just admit that he made a mistake and move on. But he couldn't do that. Instead, he dug in. And the disturbing thing is that we've seen this movie before -- a leader who pursues the wrong course, who is unwilling to change course, who ignores the evidence. Now, just like George Bush, John McCain refused to admit that he made a mistake. And that's exactly the kind of leadership that we've had through more than five years of fighting a war that should've never been authorized, and should've never been waged.

We don't need more leaders who can't admit they've made a mistake, even when it's about something as fundamental as how many young Americans are serving in harm's way." - Barack Obama, today.

McCain said that the US presence in Iraq was now at pre-surge levels. It's a pretty serious error:

"I can look you in the eye and tell you it's succeeding. We have drawn down to pre-surge levels. Basra, Mosul and now Sadr City are quiet."

DIsmissing it as a verb tense triviality is Clintonian. In the foreign policy debate, Obama and McCain have basically fought each other to a draw these past few weeks. Given McCain's serious domestic flaws, that's good news for the Democrat.