[FUNdamental]

[QUOTE=mrbowler;982706]I don't understand how McCain would view this as only a Utah issue-according to a couple articles I've read:

McCain has a history of simplifying an issue and injecting superfluous information to the point where his statements become misleading. By claiming polygamy is "a Utah issue" he is projecting the problem away from his own state, and giving tacit approval to the sects in other states, sans Utah.

Look how many times on the campaign trail he claimed Romney, like Hillary Clinton, wants to immediately pull out of Iraq and wave the white flag, surrendering to the terrorists. Romney nor Clinton never said "immediate" pull out, just a more diplomatic plan that had pull out in its goals.
Ira Goldman wrote an excellent piece on the simplification and distortion on McCain's latest attack on Obama. He wrote;

At a press conference here, I just asked John McCain about why he keeps talking about Obama's alleged willingness to talk to Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who has no power over Iranian foreign policy, rather than Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, who does. He said that Ahmadinejad is the guy who represents Iran in international forums like the United Nations, which is a fair point. When I followed with the observation that the Supreme Leader is, uh, the Supreme Leader, McCain responded that the "average American" thinks Ahmadinejad is the boss.
Let's be clear: Iran has a very complex system of government with varying institutions, but at the top of it sits Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who essentially has only accountable to the Council of Guardians made up of clerics, many of whom are appointed by Khamenei. So, Ahmadinejad is not the leader. And as the Council on Foreign Relations explains, especially in the area of foreign policy, Ahmadinejad has very little influence.

On top of that as Klein points out, the president's job is to educate the public on questions of policy. So if the "average American" thinks that Ahmadinejad is the ultimate leader of Iran, it's up to the president to dissuade them of this notion -- not reinforce it. Back in 2002 more then half of Americans thought Saddam was responsible for 9/11 and President Bush did nothing to disprove this assumption (In fact, while never directly claiming that Saddam was responsible for 9/11 the administration did everything it could to reinforce the notion).