Today John McCain made what may be the equivalent of Gerald Ford's fatal 1976 foreign policy blunder.
From the Washington Post
McCain said it was "common knowledge and has been reported in the media that al-Qaeda is going back into Iran and receiving training and are coming back into Iraq from Iran, that's well known. And it's unfortunate."
Of course, al-Qaeda has not been going into Iran.
But look who steps forward to save the day:
A few moments later, Sen. Joseph Lieberman, standing just behind McCain, stepped forward and whispered in the presidential candidate's ear. McCain then said: "I'm sorry, the Iranians are training extremists, not al-Qaeda."
(emphasis added)
This is a serious gaffe; he did not just misspeak or misidentify the leader of a foreign country:
The Republican nominee for President of the United States thought, up until Joe Lieberman told him otherwise, that al-Qaeda was going into Iran, getting training there, and coming back to Iraq to kill Americans.
This should disqualify him for the presidency.
Let's pray there is video.
Update: Think Progress has much more, including audio from McCain making the same claim yesterday on Hugh Hewitt's show. They also place this gaffe in the context of McCain's foreign policy experience claims.
Update II: Video here; McCain makes the claim about Iran and al-Qaeda, but this clip is not where Lieberman corrects him. (If someone in comments can tell me how to embed a video here, I'll do it.)