McCain faces offensive on the home front
Republican candidate tries to fight perception as aloof, rich man after admitting he can't remember offhand how many houses he owns
Article Comments JOHN IBBITSON
From Friday's Globe and Mail
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August 22, 2008 at 3:27 AM EDT
WASHINGTON — Quick: How many houses do you own?
For John McCain, that turned out to be a trick question.
The Arizona senator might have committed a gaffe he comes to deeply regret. A reporter from Politico asked him Wednesday how many houses he owned.
"I think - I'll have my staff get to you," McCain replied. "It's condominiums where - I'll have them get to you."
His staff worsened the situation by later saying the McCains owned "at least" four homes: in Arizona, California and Virginia.
At least?
The reason for the confusion, apparently, is that the McCains own several investment properties. Mr. McCain's wife, Cindy, inherited a beer distribution company, making her worth at least $100-million. Newsweek put the current total of their properties at seven.
Less than a day after Mr. McCain stumbled over the housing question, the Obama campaign had a national television ad on the air. "When asked how many houses he owns, McCain lost track," the announcer declared. "He couldn't remember. Well, it's seven. Seven houses."
Obama supporters were also flagging and flogging a Vogue interview in which Cindy McCain explained why the McCains had purchased a second beachfront California condominium.
"When I bought the first one, my husband, who is not a beach person, said, 'Oh, this is such a waste of money; the kids will never go.' Then it got to the point where they used it so much I couldn't get in the place. So I bought another one." Who among us hasn't been forced to do the same?
What isn't clear is whether this is a so-called "scanner moment" - a seemingly inconsequential act that ends up terminally branding a campaign: George H. W. Bush amazed by an optical scanner at a supermarket; John Kerry windsurfing; Michael Dukakis looking ridiculous in a tank.
Mr. Obama is clearly hoping to make it so. The housing gaffe has been injected straight into his stump speech.
Mr. Obama married the quote to a comment the Arizona senator made on Sunday when asked by evangelist Rick Warren what his definition of wealthy was. Mr. McCain initially joked that making $5-million a year might qualify.
"I guess if you think that being rich means you've got to make $5-million and if you don't know how many houses you have, then it's not surprising that you might think the economy was fundamentally strong," Mr. Obama told a gathering in Chester, Va., yesterday.
"But if you're like me, and you've got one house, or you are like the millions of people who are struggling right now to keep up with their mortgage so they don't lose their home, you might have a different perspective."
In this latest battle of the war rooms, the McCain headquarters fired back quickly.
"Does a guy who made more than $4-million last year, just got back from vacation on a private beach in Hawaii and bought his own million-dollar mansion with the help of a convicted felon really want to get into a debate about houses?" McCain campaign spokesman Brian Rogers offered as a retort.
By evening, yesterday, the McCain forces had released a counterattack ad of their own.
"Barack Obama knows a lot about housing problems," the narrator intoned. "One of his 'biggest fundraisers' helped him buy his million-dollar mansion. ... Now, he's a convicted felon, facing jail."
Actually, there are no private beaches in Hawaii. The Obamas racked up $4-million in income thanks to Mr. Obama's two bestselling books. But it is true that the couple were associated with Tony Rezko, a Chicago developer who was found guilty in June of a dozen felonies in a corruption scandal.
Both the McCains and the Obamas are vastly richer than most voters. But whether or not the "houses" question has legs, it is likely to undercut Mr. McCain's efforts, which have been quite successful up till now, to portray Mr. Obama as elitist and out of touch.
After all, the Illinois senator may eat arugula and sip Black Forest Berry Honest Tea and read books by authors Mr. McCain has never heard of, but at least he knows where he lives.