Minneapolis, Minnesota — The big news of the presidential election came from here yesterday, when John McCain corrected a voter who claimed Barack Obama was a “Arab” at a town hall in Lakeville. Gayle Quinnell, 75, took the microphone from McCain. “I got to ask you a question,” she said. “I don’t even, I can’t trust obama. I have read about him and he is not, he is not, he is an arab. He is not…” The moment she said “Arab,” McCain reached for the microphone, snatched it back from her, and began shaking his head. “No ma’am.” “No?” she asked, surprised. “No ma’am. No ma’am. He is, he is, he is a decent family man, a citizen that I just happen to have disagreements with on fundamental issues and that is what this campaign is all about. He is not.” It was a striking moment — candidate in the throes of a heated political campaign — correctingleaving off McCain’s final comment — “He is not.” She concluded parenthetically, writing of McCain: “He did not correct her false depiction of Mr. Obama.” The claim is false. In fact, McCain corrected that claim four times in the space of about ten seconds — not including the shaking of his head. The report was so obviously incorrect that it set off a buzz in McCain’s traveling press corps.
