McCain, Obama and how many homes?
By Jimmy Orr
August 21, 2008

We’ve all forgotten things before. Like where the car keys are. And what time the appointment is. How many houses we own….

The problem is when you are running for president and you are trying to appeal to the middle class, the “forgetting how many houses you own” thing could be an issue.

That is the issue John McCain finds himself in after not being able to tell a Politico reporter how many homes he owns. “I think - I’ll have my staff get to you,” he said.

The answer is four. But, this on top of the five million dollar remark at last Saturday’s event with pastor Rick Warren, is giving McCain some headaches today.

Barack Obama seized on both McCain gaffes today speaking at a town hall meeting in Richmond, Virginia.

“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,” he said. “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 different perspective.”

The Christian Science Monitor
complete article

Oh, by the way -- the article has one mistake in it. He doesn't actually own 4 homes. He owns 7.

And I bet none of them are for rental property either

Yet Barack is the elitist? Really?

So he's a "home boy", so what?

kanaloa wrote:

Yet Barack is the elitist? Really?

This is the part that really irritates me. The McCain campaign response is that Obama has a multi-million dollar mansion ($1.6 million I believe) which was purchased through a relationship with a convicted felon. As far as I can tell, the felon on recommended the place and didn't really do anything as far as helping with the purchase, though I don't know the details. But still, they are saying that his ONE multi-million dollar house is elitist when the cheapest property McCain owns is still over $800000. Most of them are $2 million+ and he "lives" in 4 of them. Who needs 4 houses to begin with, let alone 4 - $2 million homes? I could see 3 at the most. A vacation property, a physical home, and then one where you work if you were in a case such as McCain and likely several other Congressmen. But 4 houses? And just so you know, he also has a parking lot valued around or over $1mil. And he is calling Obama elitist? I'm wondering the reason, is it because he is educated and went to college and is actually semi-intelligent? If so, that makes a small percentage of the US elitist. I only say small percentage as I've worked with and met several people that have gotten a college degree that couldn't think their way out of a wet paper bag.

Apparently intelligence and charisma are now detrimental qualities. Good to see we've got our priorities straight. And because Obama wasn't a POW - well he must not have any experience of be able to think. Never mind his education - the man can't think right?

I do worry about Obama taking the high road. I mean I'm all for it (and I encourage it), but I worry about him. It's like the people that complain about all the money spent in elections - BUT when was the last time a guy you hadn't heard of won? Exactly - money talks and money gets votes. So it's unfortunate, but it seems unless you play dirty you're not going to win an election. I think that's a sad state to be in, but... it's better than 4 more years of this crap. Too many Americans buy into the stupid dirty tricks and lies. The only way to counter is to use a few tactics of your own. It's depressing to think about, but hey, it is what it is.

Just to give McCain a break, his wife also owns some 'homes' so perhaps he wanted to be accurate. Even the media is not sure now if it's 7 or 8 total homes ATM.

augie wrote:

Just to give McCain a break, his wife also owns some 'homes' so perhaps he wanted to be accurate. Even the media is not sure now if it's 7 or 8 total homes ATM.

I could be wrong but I believe that whether or not the home is in his name or hers he still "owns" them since I assume they file a joint tax return. I'm sure most are in his name, though, and he still could have answered "at least bla bla..." since he surely knew whether it was 1, 2, 3 or more. Not giving any number at all is certainly being evasive.

Mark brings up a good point, too. While McCain's attack is partly based on the value of Obama's home, most of his own homes are worth at least as much. It's not like McCain's multiple homes cost $100k each.

I also think it's good to put rehabilitated criminals to work lol.

I am pretty sure John and Cindy file separately, there was a big controversy about her not releasing her tax records for a while. She's loaded. McCain's not hurting for money, but his wife is loaded - some estimate by as much as 100mil.