Biggest Political Gaffes of the Last Decade

You may be thinking that the field of 2012 candidates are more prone to missteps and dumb quotes than past presidential candidates, but don’t worry, they’re not. In fact, you’d be hard-pressed to find a presidential candidate who hasn’t had at least one or two stupid quotes. Here’s a look at some of the dumbest, scariest and funniest political gaffes since 200o. You’ll notice George W. Bush didn’t make the list…this is mostly because he has way too many for me to chose from. I’ve also had to go back to ’00, ’04 and ’08 to get blunders from a variety of Democratic candidates.

“From time to time there are going to be things that occur that are acts of God that cannot be prevented.” —Rick Perry, on the BP/Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill in the Gulf of Mexico, in 2010

“During my service in the United States Congress I took the initiative in creating the Internet.” -Al Gore

Al Gore, Creator of the internet

“I find it interesting that it was back in the 1970s that the swine flu broke out under another, then under another Democrat president, Jimmy Carter. I’m not blaming this on President Obama, I just think it’s an interesting coincidence.” -Michelle Bachmann, on a 1972 Swine Flu outbreak (Gerald Ford was president, not Jimmy Carter)

“We have a lot of kids who don’t know what works means. They think work is a four-letter word.” -Hillary Clinton

“I just got back from China. Ever heard of the Great Wall of China? It looks pretty sturdy. And that sucker is real high. I think we can build one if we want to! We have put a man on the moon, we can build a fence! Now, my fence might be part Great Wall and part electrical technology…It will be a twenty foot wall, barbed wire, electrified on the top, and on this side of the fence, I’ll have that moat that President Obama talked about. And I would put those alligators in that moat!” -Herman Cain, on immigration

Is that 20 feet or 25 feet?

”The Middle East is obviously an issue that has plagued the region for centuries.” -Barack Obama

”What people recognize is that there’s a fear that the United States is in an unstoppable decline. They see the rise of China, the rise of India, the rise of the Soviet Union and our loss militarily going forward.” -Michelle Bachmann, 2011

”It’s your state that fired the shot that was heard around the world! You are the state of Lexington and Concord, you started the battle for liberty right here in your backyard.” -Michelle Bachmann, in New Hampshire.

I didn't know New Hampshire was the home of Lexington and Concord

”I have two grandchildren — Maggie is 11, Robert is 9. I am convinced that if we do not decisively win the struggle over the nature of America, by the time they’re my age they will be in a secular atheist country, potentially one dominated by radical Islamists and with no understanding of what it once meant to be an American.” -Newt Gingrich

“PETA is not happy that my dog likes fresh air.” -Mitt Romney, on strapping his dog to the top of his car (yes, you read that correctly).

Feel free to weigh in with your own favorites!