More on Spain

McCain's comments to a Miami radio station have caused quite a stir this afternoon. After hours of trying to figure out what McCain meant by his, at best, seeming unwillingness to meet with Spain Prime Minister Zapatero and, at worst, his seeming inability to remember who Zapatero is, things are becoming more clear. In a statement to the Washington Post, McCain foreign policy advisor Randy Scheunemann said McCain heard the interviewer, understood the question and meant that he would not meet with Zapatero.

Scheunemann said, "The questioner asked several times about Senator McCain's willingness to meet Zapatero (and id's him in the question so there would be no doubt Senator McCain knew exactly to whom the question referred). Senator McCain refused to commit to a White House meeting with President Zapatero in this interview."

Aside from the obvious mistake of having a foreign policy advisor call Zapatero the president when, in fact, he is the prime minister, Scheunemann's claim is quite stunning. He is saying McCain would not meet with a NATO ally. He is saying that McCain has reversed the position he had in April when he said, "I would like for [Zapatero] to visit the United States. I am very interested not only in normalizing relations with Spain but in obtaining good and productive relations with the goal of addressing many issues and challenges that we have to confront together."