Mike Allen and Jim VandeHei have an interesting item in the Politico the other day that generated quite a bit of attention, about John McCain’s series of verbal “gaffes.”

Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) said “Iraq” on Monday when he apparently meant “Afghanistan”, adding to a string of mixed-up word choices that is giving ammunition to the opposition.

Just in the past three weeks, McCain has also mistaken “Somalia” for “Sudan,” and even football’s Green Bay Packers for the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Ironically, the errors have been concentrated in what should be his area of expertise: foreign affairs.

In a sense, “gaffe” is overly forgiving. It implies that McCain means to say the right thing, but tends to misspeak. I don’t see it that way at all. “Gaffe” suggests McCain knows what he’s talking about, but is burdened by the occasional embarrassing verbal faux pas.

But that’s not the real story here. The important point is that McCain, most, seems hopelessly clueless and confused. That’s far more significant than the occasional “gaffe.”