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

Obama's Penn State Fumble

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Barack Obama
Sept. 4, 2008

"Penn State right here — Nitally Lions."

—Obama, mistakenly calling the Penn football team the "Nitally Lions" when calling on someone during a question-and-answer session in York, Pennsylvania. The team is called the Nittany Lions.


— Katie Rooney


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