When Hillary said something similar, some people jumped all over her, with a lot of news coverage. In that case, it might well have been an innocent comment, like when I mention that the last time a saw John Denver in concert was a few months before his death. But after all the controversy there was over Clinton’s statement, and in the context of the topic of Palin supporters shouting racist threats against Obama at Palin rally’s, the comment shows McCain to be really vile and evil, or else mentally incompetent. As I remember, he paused briefly before he said it, so it did not give me the appearance of something that just came out naturally w/o thinking, as part of the context.