And now for the next question

[kenberg]

I am about to go off to the Shenandoah for the week-end so I won't be following up here, but I wanted to grab the opportunity to be the first with this:

 

How many houses do you own?

I'll have my staff get back to you on that.

 

 

Is this a Dukakis in a tank moment for John McCain? A guy can own several houses, I don't see it as a problem. A guy wants to run the country but finds "How many houses do you own?" a question that must be referred to staff? I, and I imagine others, have a tough time with this.

[hrothgar]

I don't consider it particularly significant that McCain doesn't know how many houses his wife owns. I doubt that he actually uses/visits many of them. I expect that several properties might be part of a real estate portfolio rather than real living quarters. Why should he bother to pay attention to this sort of stuff?

 

He might very well get crucified for this lapse, but that's another great example how the media tends to latch onto to completely meaningless crap while ignoring far more significant issues.

 

Don't get me wrong: I think that the media should be flaying McCain alive on any number of topics - He's a lying weasel who strikes me as genuinely unbalanced. The only thing he seems to stand for is "War with End". Not being sure how many houses the family owns doesn't seem particualry significant in the grand scheme of things.

[RichMor]

This is a Bush 1 at the supermarket moment. That was an incident long ago when Bush the elder expressed semi-amazement over an automated price scanner at the checkout counter. Then he followed up with a flustered response when asked about the price of bread.

 

The whole thing showed that Bush 1 was out of touch with the lives of average people.

 

Seems like the question - how many houses do you and your wife own - was a set up designed to show that the millionaire McCain was not a 'regular American'. When he couldn't answer the question, it was a double shot; McCain is not a 'regular American' with one house plus he's senile and/or evasive.

 

Perfect.

[Gerben42]

My guess is that "regular Americans" wouldn't run for president. And because of the astronomical cost of a campaign, they wouldn't be able to either.

 

What worries me most that to win the election, the candidates must simplify very complicated situations to something black and white, i.e. they cannot really say what's really important without losing votes.

[jdonn]

This was an awful moment for McCain, but in my mind it's not a sign of elitism (which is frankly a quality I could care less about), it's (another) sign of senility. And that scares me even more...

[ASkolnick]

No. This is the same dumb liberal reporting that takes a meaningless statement out of context. He may be part of several Real Estate deals that he is unaware of or maybe he understands that answering the question will be panned no matter how he decides to answers it.

 

Let's give him possible answers:

 

1) I only own 1 house. To relate to the simple man. Press finds out he is involved in several real estate deals and they say he lied.

 

2) 2 houses. 1 winter and 1 summer home. They will see he is elitest and can't relate to the common man.

 

3) 5 houses. Several are part of Real Estate Deals. He is too greedy and just wants money and power.

[RichMor]

My guess is that "regular Americans" wouldn't run for president. And because of the astronomical cost of a campaign, they wouldn't be able to either.

Yes that's true. But a candidate tries to look like a 'regular American' when the cameras are on. Recall Hillary Clinton having a beer and and a shot with the good old boys.

 

And most voters accept the fact that a candidate is not just like them. But the voters have a concern when a candidate seems to have no clue about the lives of 'regular Americans'.

 

It wasn't that Bush 1 didn't know the price of bread or that McCain didn't know houw many houses his wife owns. It was more that they didn't understand why anybody would ask or even care.

[TimG]

I don't consider it particularly significant that McCain doesn't know how many houses his wife owns.

The real answer to how many McCain owns might be zero. I can easily imagine the home(s) being in his wife's name.

[jdonn]

No. This is the same dumb liberal reporting that takes a meaningless statement out of context.  He may be part of several Real Estate deals that he is unaware of or maybe he understands that answering the question will be panned no matter how he decides to answers it.

 

Let's give him possible answers:

 

                              1) I only own 1 house.  To relate to the simple man.  Press finds out he is involved in several real estate deals and they say he lied.

 

                              2) 2 houses. 1 winter and 1 summer home.  They will see he is elitest and can't relate to the common man.

 

                              3) 5 houses.  Several are part of Real Estate Deals.  He is too greedy and just wants money and power.

I am certainly no fan of Democrats or Republicans. But R's constant whining about the media always makes me think of the basketball coach who complains after a game that his team got called for 20 more fouls than the opponents did, without actually stopping to think that maybe they got called for more fouls because .... wait for it .... they committed more fouls!!

 

By the way, do you actually know that he is part of Real Estate deals that would prevent him from counting to a single digit number, or is that a preemptive excuse just in case you luck out and it happens to turn out to be true?

[cherdano]

Of course it isn't particularly relevant, but the media story on this is only working so well because the implication ("McCain is out of touch with the lives of ordinary Americans".) is very credible.

 

I find another story a lot more telling, that happened at a speech in front of union leaders 2 years ago:

But he took more questions, including a pointed one on his immigration plan.

 

McCain responded by saying immigrants were taking jobs nobody else wanted. He offered anybody in the crowd $50 an hour to pick lettuce in Arizona.

 

Shouts of protest rose from the crowd, with some accepting McCain’s job offer.

 

“I’ll take it!” one man shouted.

 

McCain insisted none of them would do such menial labor for a complete season. “You can’t do it, my friends.”

(quoted from http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/12155322/ )

 

So McCain seems to be implying that American workers wouldn't take a tedious job for as little as 50 dollars an hour.

[cherdano]

I don't consider it particularly significant that McCain doesn't know how many houses his wife owns.

The real answer to how many McCain owns might be zero. I can easily imagine the home(s) being in his wife's name.

The interviewer correctly asked about how many houses he and his wife own together.

[Al_U_Card]

Secretly, the american electorate is yearning for a "common man" as president. A smart, inquisitive, valiant and honest type who will "set things right" and "get the job done".....so that they won't have to....or make too many sacrifices too soon.

 

Obama has the front/approach/attitude and is the first since Carter and Kennedy to have this kind of appeal.

 

The forces of darkness will encroach and exploit any and all opportunities. Will he make it past the dirty tricks and the media control? Will he overpower the voting machine rigging? Will he survive election? Will he be allowed to take control? Remains to be seen and only time will tell and its about time.

[pclayton]

At the Saddleback Church Forum last weekend (about 5 minutes from my house), McCain was asked what he considered a 'rich' person to be. $5,000,000 a YEAR.

 

I think this statement is more damning than not being able to answer how many houses he owns.

[Lobowolf]

I don't consider it particularly significant that McCain doesn't know how many houses his wife owns.

The real answer to how many McCain owns might be zero. I can easily imagine the home(s) being in his wife's name.

Most of them are in her name or her name and the kids' names.

[luke warm]

Secretly, the american electorate is yearning for a "common man" as president.  A smart, inquisitive, valiant and honest type who will "set things right" and "get the job done".....so that they won't have to....or make too many sacrifices too soon.

 

Obama has the front/approach/attitude and is the first since Carter and Kennedy to have this kind of appeal.

 

The forces of darkness will encroach and exploit any and all opportunities. Will he make it past the dirty tricks and the media control?  Will he overpower the voting machine rigging?  Will he survive election?  Will he be allowed to take control?  Remains to be seen and only time will tell and its about time.

does this mean that if he loses it will be because of something underhanded?

At the Saddleback Church Forum last weekend (about 5 minutes from my house), McCain was asked what he considered a 'rich' person to be. $5,000,000 a YEAR.

 

I think this statement is more damning than not being able to answer how many houses he owns.

was there anything obama said that you considere damning? (or even danging)

[Lobowolf]

At the Saddleback Church Forum last weekend (about 5 minutes from my house), McCain was asked what he considered a 'rich' person to be. $5,000,000 a YEAR.

 

I think this statement is more damning than not being able to answer how many houses he owns.

Did you hear/see this one, Phil, or read it? I caught it on the radio, and it was pretty clearly (to me, anyway) flippant.

[Lobowolf]

I don't consider it particularly significant that McCain doesn't know how many houses his wife owns.

The real answer to how many McCain owns might be zero. I can easily imagine the home(s) being in his wife's name.

The interviewer correctly asked about how many houses he and his wife own together.

Houses in his wife's name may be owned together by them, or may be her separate property.

[Lobowolf]

This was an awful moment for McCain, but in my mind it's not a sign of elitism (which is frankly a quality I could care less about), it's (another) sign of senility. And that scares me even more...

More senile than John Kerry's driving the SUV he said he didn't own to his concession speech? (post-called out-explanation: "That's my wife's car.") Sounds familiar...

[jdonn]

At the Saddleback Church Forum last weekend (about 5 minutes from my house), McCain was asked what he considered a 'rich' person to be. $5,000,000 a YEAR.

 

I think this statement is more damning than not being able to answer how many houses he owns.

was there anything obama said that you considere damning? (or even danging)

This was an awful moment for McCain, but in my mind it's not a sign of elitism (which is frankly a quality I could care less about), it's (another) sign of senility. And that scares me even more...

More senile than John Kerry's driving the SUV he said he didn't own to his concession speech? (post-called out-explanation: "That's my wife's car.") Sounds familiar...

Does anyone ever give any answer other than "so what if we are terrible, you are bad too!"??

[pclayton]

At the Saddleback Church Forum last weekend (about 5 minutes from my house), McCain was asked what he considered a 'rich' person to be. $5,000,000 a YEAR.

 

I think this statement is more damning than not being able to answer how many houses he owns.

Did you hear/see this one, Phil, or read it? I caught it on the radio, and it was pretty clearly (to me, anyway) flippant.

No, I wasn't about to spend $500 - 2,000 to help the burgeoning war chest of the Church of Sanctimony.

[pclayton]

Secretly, the american electorate is yearning for a "common man" as president.  A smart, inquisitive, valiant and honest type who will "set things right" and "get the job done".....so that they won't have to....or make too many sacrifices too soon.

 

Obama has the front/approach/attitude and is the first since Carter and Kennedy to have this kind of appeal.

 

The forces of darkness will encroach and exploit any and all opportunities. Will he make it past the dirty tricks and the media control?  Will he overpower the voting machine rigging?  Will he survive election?  Will he be allowed to take control?  Remains to be seen and only time will tell and its about time.

does this mean that if he loses it will be because of something underhanded?

At the Saddleback Church Forum last weekend (about 5 minutes from my house), McCain was asked what he considered a 'rich' person to be. $5,000,000 a YEAR.

 

I think this statement is more damning than not being able to answer how many houses he owns.

was there anything obama said that you considere damning? (or even danging)

LOL Jimmy, I'm not endorsing either of these buffoons.

[TimG]

I don't consider it particularly significant that McCain doesn't know how many houses his wife owns.

The real answer to how many McCain owns might be zero. I can easily imagine the home(s) being in his wife's name.

The interviewer correctly asked about how many houses he and his wife own together.

That may be a bit different. A couple of years ago, my family owned three cars. I could not have told you which were in my name, which were in my wife's name and which were in both of our names. But, I did know that we had three cars. On the other hand, I can also understand that a vacation home or two were actually owned by family members, not by McCain or his wife. And, can understand if McCain didn't bother himself with the details.

[Lobowolf]

At the Saddleback Church Forum last weekend (about 5 minutes from my house), McCain was asked what he considered a 'rich' person to be. $5,000,000 a YEAR.

 

I think this statement is more damning than not being able to answer how many houses he owns.

was there anything obama said that you considere damning? (or even danging)

This was an awful moment for McCain, but in my mind it's not a sign of elitism (which is frankly a quality I could care less about), it's (another) sign of senility. And that scares me even more...

More senile than John Kerry's driving the SUV he said he didn't own to his concession speech? (post-called out-explanation: "That's my wife's car.") Sounds familiar...

Does anyone ever give any answer other than "so what if we are terrible, you are bad too!"??

Absolutely. I don't have a "We." So my answer is more akin to "If you're calling They #1 terrible, are you calling They #2 terrible, too?"

 

It's probably even less that than saying that I don't think the house thing had anything to do with senility, and I don't think that anyone thought that Kerry was senile, either, despite making an essentially identical statement.

[Lobowolf]

Secretly, the american electorate is yearning for a "common man" as president.  A smart, inquisitive, valiant and honest type who will "set things right" and "get the job done".....so that they won't have to....or make too many sacrifices too soon.

 

Obama has the front/approach/attitude and is the first since Carter and Kennedy to have this kind of appeal.

 

The forces of darkness will encroach and exploit any and all opportunities. Will he make it past the dirty tricks and the media control?  Will he overpower the voting machine rigging?  Will he survive election?  Will he be allowed to take control?  Remains to be seen and only time will tell and its about time.

does this mean that if he loses it will be because of something underhanded?

At the Saddleback Church Forum last weekend (about 5 minutes from my house), McCain was asked what he considered a 'rich' person to be. $5,000,000 a YEAR.

 

I think this statement is more damning than not being able to answer how many houses he owns.

was there anything obama said that you considere damning? (or even danging)

LOL Jimmy, I'm not endorsing either of these buffoons.

Can't remember who said it, but my favorite comment on the current election cycle is, "If God wanted me to vote, he would have given me a candidate."

[Lobowolf]

At the Saddleback Church Forum last weekend (about 5 minutes from my house), McCain was asked what he considered a 'rich' person to be. $5,000,000 a YEAR.

 

I think this statement is more damning than not being able to answer how many houses he owns.

Did you hear/see this one, Phil, or read it? I caught it on the radio, and it was pretty clearly (to me, anyway) flippant.

No, I wasn't about to spend $500 - 2,000 to help the burgeoning war chest of the Church of Sanctimony.

lol I got it for free on the radio. The context was "rich" in the sense of "rich enough that we can/should take more money from these people in the form of increased taxation," and McCain was deliberately giving an outrageously high answer consistent with his answer - Nobody. McCain also immediately acknowledged that he'd be hearing it as soundbite fodder, but in context it was a pretty straight answer. Obama set a low-mid 6-figure limit above which taxes should be increased to help out people who are less well off, and McCain said that nobody's taxes should go up.