I'm not an expert on cognitive problems, but I think forgetting that Spain is in NATO would indicate deeper ones than McCain otherwise shows. I think possibly he has hearing problems.

To me, McCain sounded like he was half asleep. And it seems he heard the interviewer's question "what about Europe"? to be "what about you?"

I'm fairly sure McCain knows where Spain is, and he probably knows who Zapatero is, but he really came across as not being able to follow where this interview was going.

The "Let's talk about Spain" comment by the interviewer is at about the 2:59 minute mark. That statement is clear as a bell - her accent when she rattles off Zapatero's full name is a bit hard to understand, and I can imagine anyone mishearing that part. But not "Let's talk about Spain."

And his later reference to "working with leaders in the hemisphere" and "Latin America" pretty clearly indicates that if he ever did realize he was being asked about the PM of Spain he had forgotten that by the time he got to end of his boilerplate response. The interviewer did seem a bit flummoxed at that point, don't you think?

John McCain just called for the reform of Daisy Mae and Freddie Mercury.

She definitely said Zapatero's name really fast and sounded like she said "what about you". HOWEVER, when she said "Let's talk about spain" McHoover totally dropped the ball. It sounded like he didn't know where Spain was considering his focus was on Latin America.

Also even if she sounded like she said "what about you" She finished by saying "I am talking about the PRESIDENT OF SPAIN" which was CLEAR. I don't know how big a gaffe this is, time will tell.

Well, perhaps he was confused, but does it matter? I'm reading the Spanish newspaper and an op/ed piece by Hermann Tertsch (in Spanish), and whichever one of the 3 possible interpretation of the gaffe that are given by Josh, each one fits neatly with the narrative given in the Spanish press: Spain will not recuperate the leverage that it once enjoyed when Asnar was a staunch ally of Bush in Iraq under a McCain administration because Spain is too leftist, too independent, too European or too reality based. The other question is, will it be true otherwise with an Obama administration? The Spaniards pundits seems to be betting on that and have already made up their mind before the gaffe. There is no international incident here, just how it is regarded within the US.

After she said she'd talk about Spain, his answer included Latin America. She then reminded him she was talking about Europe, where Spain is located...that's when he said, "What about me, what?" and then repeated his answer omitting the phrase "Latin America".
Clearly, he was having a senior moment. The name of President Zapatero never "clicked" for McCain, and neither did the country of Spain, she repeated both. It was after she gave him a hint and told him Spain was in Europe that anything "clicked". Sorry, I work with seniors all the time...some of them just don't click like they used tah.

He keeps talking about Mexico in his responses (if you actually read/listen to the whole thing), whether it be Calderon or the Merida plan, or what have you. He thought she was talking about the Zapatistas. I know, I know - she mentioned "Spain" twice - as much as I don't like the guy, he's not stupid or totally senile. If he had actually heard her say "Spain", I don't think he would have actually not known what she was talking about.

But considering all of the complete distortions and outright lies regarding Obama that the McCain campaign is and has been benefiting from, it's only fair that they become the victim at least once in awhile, right? And as soon as McCain tells his supporters that Obama is not actually a "secret Muslim", Obama can come out and defend him for the interview.

She said, "What about Europe (said as Your_ope)?"
McCain said, "What about me?"

I think you guys are blowing this out of proportion. I'm not into McCain or Palin but I think there are other issues to focus on.

The right wing fruitcakes agree with your synopsis, but their take is that McCain is right to refuse to meet with Zapatero because:

1) He's a damn Communist
2) He's cowardly an appeaser and "gave in" to al-Qaeda
3) Did I mention that he's a Communist?

A little background
In the run up to the invasion of Iraq, which the then president of Spain, Aznar, enthusiastically supported, Zapatero, then the head of the opposition, led a demonstration against the war in Madrid attended by well over a million people.

Later on Armed Forces day, when a US Marine honor guard invited to Madrid for the big parade by Aznar passed in review, Zapatero did not stand up when the American flag passed. Then, the first thing he did as president was to withdraw Spanish troops from Iraq.

For this reason, Bush has put him in the deep freeze and refused to meet with him. This has not hurt Zapatero one bit in Spain, as Bush is about as popular here as wind at a bullfight. everybody here including the right wing is rooting for Obama. Only the far right worries about Bush's cold shoulder. If Obama gave Spain the cold shoulder, then people would feel hurt.

If Bush ever came to Spain, thousands of people would line the streets to throw tomatoes at him. The attitude to Bush here is that he is welcome to osculate Spain's fundament.

However, contrary to many of the commentaries here, I think that McCain was very aware of what he was saying or not saying on this question. If it the administration's attitude is to "punish" Zapatero, as a ranking Republican senator, McCain would have been imprudent to take any position on that without first consulting the White House. So he just ran the question, which most Americans could care less about, into touch. I think the Obama camp is really reaching for it on this one.

I think it's just a little different than you may have thought, hrebendorf; I think he knows she said Spain, he remembers that there's some reason that he's not 100% behind Spain, but can't remember for the life of him, what his strongly-held opinion is. This alone wins him my 1st-geezer-shouldn't-be-elected award of the campaign season.