Blog Buzz: John McCain's Spain Gaffe, Barack Obama's Relationship With Fannie and Freddie, and Obama's Up in the Polls

Our daily look at stories and topics that are lighting up the Internets:

McCain Is No Friend of Spain's

John McCain's recent foreign policy gaffe—he got a little confused in an interview by a question about whether or not he would meet with the Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero—has drawn scorn from liberal bloggers, who say his answer (that referred to Latin America, not Europe) was "inexplicable and illogical", not to mention "embarrassing." What's even worse, they say, is that McCain's foreign policy adviser Randy Scheunemann has now told the Washington Post that McCain was not confused, he was simply refusing to commit to a meeting with Zapatero. This outrages liberals even more because it's "insane" that McCain wouldn't meet with an ally of the U.S., and they think that McCain just doesn't want to admit his confusion. Our Robert Schlesinger says that's what he should have done. Bloggers are worried that the gaffe shows McCain has "prime time." Political Animal lists McCain's other foreign policy slip-ups and wonders what the reaction would be if Obama had the same track record.

Obama's In With "the Twins"

Conservative bloggers are going after Barack Obama for his relationship with "the twins," Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, saying he got "oodles of cash" from the mortgage giants and that two Fannie CEOs have close ties to the candidate. They say it's another example of how all Obama's talk about change is a lie, and they are eager to point out that John McCain predicted the outcome of the credit crisis a couple years ago. The candidates are also bickering about each other's stances on the AIG bailout.

Bad Economy Is Good for Obama

A Quinnipiac national poll shows Obama leading McCain 49 to 45 percent and liberal and other bloggers think McCain could be in trouble. Nate Silver at the New Republic says the shift is partly because of the economic crisis, but it's also because Palin is becoming a liability and shenanigans like "lipstick" cost the campaign some credibility. Bloggers say if the economy continues to dominate talk until the election, it will be good news for Obama.

—Gretchen Hannes