Obama Wants to be President of all 57 States
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James Joyner | Saturday, May 10, 2008 |
An amusing gaffe from Barack Obama: “Over the last 15 months, we’ve traveled to every corner of the United States. I’ve now been in 57 states? I think one left to go. Alaska and Hawaii, I was not allowed to go to even though I really wanted to visit, but my staff would not justify it.”
Presumably, he meant to say “47 states.” Whether he was just tired, thinking of something else, or just someone who shouldn’t do math in public, I don’t know. I’m pretty sure he’s aware of the correct number, in any case.
Still, people are having fun with this. Marc Ambinder muses that, “if John McCain did this — if he mistakenly said he’d visited 57 states — the media would be all up in his grill, accusing him of a senior moment.”
DRJ does his own math:
Obama has been to “57 states.” He hasn’t been to Hawaii and Alaska – they aren’t big or important enough for any of the candidates to visit – so that’s 2 more states. And he has “one left to go” which makes 60. There you have it – 60 states – and that means Hillary is still in this race. The rest of us need to get busy updating our flags to add 10 more stars.
Donald Douglas wonders, “So, who’s losing their bearings?!!”
Tigerhawk proclaims, “Barack Obama is an imperialist! His mistake was not in counting the states properly, but in failing to say that he wants to visit 57 states. And who doesn’t?”
Somehow, I think it’s going to be a long six months to November. Or is that seven?
About the Author: James Joyner is the publisher of Outside the Beltway and the managing editor of the Atlantic Council. He's a former Army officer, Desert Storm vet, and college professor with a PhD in political science from The University of Alabama. He lives just outside the Beltway in Alexandria, Virginia with his wife and infant daughter.
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Obama has been to “57 states.” He hasn’t been to Hawaii and Alaska."
Yeah, and the left accused Dan Quayle of being stupid?
Maybe he was using "Reverend Wright's" arithmetic and geography.
I knew he wanted to annex most of Canada! Well, our military jet won't go down without a fight.
An amusing gaffe from Barack Obama: “Over the last 15 months, we’ve traveled to every corner of the United States. I’ve now been in 57 states? I think one left to go. Alaska and Hawaii, I was not allowed to go to even though I really wanted to visit, but my staff would not justify it.”
It is clear that Hussein is revealing his true allegiances as an un-American immigrant.
We often forget in the US that Kenya--where Hussein is from--has 7 provinces; thus, his invocation of 57.
His first task as President will be to annex Central, Coast, Eastern, North Eastern, Nyanza, Rift Valley, and Western provinces and stack COngress with foreign allies so he can push through his liberal agenda.
His first task as President will be to annex Central, Coast, Eastern, North Eastern, etc...etc...
How about annexing a brain, before the Presidential campaign gets underway?
This from a lawyer. No wonder he went into politics. That sort of mistake would get his dis barred. What B. Hussein, no teleprompter? Love the new list. Malloy, who was a school chum, Wright, Ayers and Dohrn, Farrakahn, and Tony Rezko. Beside his very own grand mother, under the bus.
Would the last commenter who's not a troll please turn the lights out when you leave?
our military jet won't go down without a fight.
Actually... will it even go up without a fight?
Would the last commenter who's not a troll please turn the lights out when you leave?
Ah... yes... sorry, but I could not resist. Besides, people are paying me to do this, you know. Try the veal while you're at it.. I'll be here all week.
(sad, tired rimshot-like noise (actually my intoxicated band-leader just fell into the drum set. Can't really blame him... we'll probably script this for the next night.)
Perhaps he has been campaigning so much that it seems like 57 states.
Beyond that, as someone who talks for a living, I am so very glad that I am not videotaped constantly, as goodness knows what kind of mistakes (both real and inadvertent) I have made that would make hy-larious YouTube clips.
He can definitely check of state of confusion
or check 'off'
Whether he was just tired, thinking of something else, or just someone who shouldn’t do math in public, I don’t know.
James Fallows made a good point a little while back, based on his own experience as part of a presidential campaign:
these candidates are living in a permanent state of exhaustion, with huge sleep deficits.
At the same time, they're surrounded by "journalists" so ignorant of the issues that they prefer to fake doing their jobs by playing "gotcha."
The result (this is me, not Fallows) practically reduces the presidential campaign to a reality TV show, and the contest into something like Fear Factor.
Well, there are 57 Islamic states. Who was the audience again?
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