"Who's most prepared to lead in this challenge, this transient, central challenge that we face called radical Islamic extremism?"

"Transient, central challenge"? Is that what McCain is saying? That's in the NYT transcript of last night's debate. It's at 5:07 in this video clip. What did he mean to say? Transcendental?

(And is McCain garbling his speech in a way that -- especially in view of his age -- should worry us?)