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

Mistakes Were Made

McCain's MoveOn Misfire

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John McCain
September 13, 2007

"It's disgraceful, it's got to be retracted and condemned by the Democrats and MoveOn.org ought to be thrown out of this country, my friends."

—McCain, at a crowded rally in a VFW hall in Hudson, New Hampshire, referring to MoveOn.org's General "Betray Us" ad that aired the day Gen. David Petraeus was testifying to Congress on Iraq. The McCain campaign later clarified and said, "What he meant to say was that MoveOn's smear of General Petraeus' character should have no place in the American political debate."


— Katie Rooney


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