During a campaign speech in Richmond, VA yesterday, Sen. Barack Obama made the following innocuous speaking gaffe:

Barack Obama caught up in the fervor of a campaign speech Tuesday, drastically overstated the Kansas tornadoes death toll, saying 10,000 had died.

The death toll was 12.

“In case you missed it, this week, there was a tragedy in Kansas. Ten thousand people died — an entire town destroyed,” the Democratic presidential candidate said in a speech to 500 people packed into a sweltering Richmond art studio for a fundraiser.

This is obviously just a minor speaking error — and in-and-of itself shouldn’t be anything other than a slightly ammusing and humerous story. I mean, it’s not like he accidently said, “I did not have sexual relations with that girl”, when he clearly did have sexual relations with that girl.

But what is interesting is the Senator’s explanation once he did realize his error:

As he concluded his remarks a few minutes later, he appeared to realize his gaffe.

“There are going to be times when I get tired,” he said. “There are going to be times when I get weary. There are going to be times when I make mistakes.”

He’s tired? That’s it?

I love this response, which is pretty much along the lines of what I was thinking when I heard his excuse.

From Don Surber: “Is Obama too tired to be president?”

Tired? The man is all of 45. John McCain is 70 and served 5 1/2 years in a Vietnamese dungeon. He never complains about being tired. Why is Obama tired all the time? Has he no stamina at all?

That’s hilarious. If you can’t stay focused while you’re merely campaigning, how are you going to handle the much more full-time job of Commander in Chief?

Posted by Robbie Cooper on Wednesday, May 9th, 2007 | Trackback |