Was ‘McCain Would be Better Than Bush’ an Obama Gaffe?

In minutes I’ll cast my vote with pride — well at least without holding my nose — in the Pennsylvania presidential primary for Barack Obama. One of Hillary Clinton’s final attempts before today’s primary to exploit a possible Obama gaffe was to disagree with Obama’s statement that John McCain would be a better president than the much despised Chimpy McFlightsuit.

Obama’s exact quote April 20 in Reading, PA:

You have a real choice in this election. Either Democrat would be better than John McCain. And all three of us would be better than George Bush.

Clinton’s response later that day in Johnstown, PA:

We need a nominee who will take on John McCain, not cheer on John McCain.

I’m not finding the clip of the Johnstown speech I saw on TV in which after Clinton said the above she went into a Q&A call-and-response with the audience: She would say something like ‘John McCain wants to continue Bush’s disastrous economic policies. Would that make him a better president than George Bush?’ and the audience would say ‘Noooo!’.

I’ll consider two questions.