You have senioritis, the giddy glee that accompanies the last few days of high school before graduation!

I was wondering what it all was supposed to be about. Apparently, you people have gone completely insane.

What happened to all that whining about Republicans not talking about policy issues?

He's just not sure if he should include the White House.

I'm pretty sure I own 5 pairs of shoes, they might add up to $520 worth. However, I am positive I own 1 house. At what point in wealth or age do you lose track of these things?

Speaking of senioritis--not that anyone else was--my nephew turned 18 today. He mentioned he can't wait to register to vote. Remembering how pro-Bush he was at age 14, I reminded him that he also needs to register for the selective service and by the way, kid, did you hear that John McCain is open to reviving the draft? I believe I made my point.

I think you're rich, Kevin.

Technically, they belong to Cindy. In normal times the goopers would cling to that statement like a raft. Not this, time, though, I think.

http://www.architecturaldigest.com/homes/features/archive/mccain_article_072005

Here is an article about one of the McCain's homes at the Architectural Digest website. They were featured on the cover of the magazine a while back.

McCain belongs in a home.

I'm glad Sen. Obama is vigorously attacking his opponent. (When Hillary, did it, of course, it was despicable. Manipulative bitch!) Yay postpartisanship!

"He can talk all he wants about Britney and Paris, but I don't have time for that mess."

Because I'm going through County Assessor's records.

Well of course McCain doesn't know!

Kept women don't get involved in their husband's finances, you know.
.

Are you suggesting that a POW doesn't deserve 7-10 homes? HOW DARE YOU SIR.

Kevin, you don't seem to realize how this stuff could resonate with middle America.

Too bad Obama won't say:
"Now I DON'T think McCain is a doddering old man
who cannot even remember how many houses he has.
I think he knows quite well but does not want to say the number."

or John McCain has more houses than Warren Buffett.

How many homes does the American median household own?

What If John Was One Of Us

If John was revealed, what would we see
And would Brian Williams tell you
If he were faced with John without John’s baloney
What would he ask if he had just one question

And yeah yeah John is great yeah yeah John is good
yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah

What if John was one of us
Just a slob like one of us
Not some straight-shooter on a bus
Trying to weasel his way home

If John was revealed what would he look like
And would you want to see
If seeing meant that you would have to believe
In things like endless needless thoughtless brainless war

And yeah yeah John is great yeah yeah John is good
yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah

What if John was one of us
Just a slob like one of us
Not some straight-shooter on a bus
Trying to weasel his way home
He's trying to weasel his way home
Back up to claim that white house throne
Three AM callers on the phone
But in John’s head there’s no one home

And yeah yeah John is great yeah yeah John is good
yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah

What if John was one of us
Just a slob like one of us
Not some straight-shooter on a bus
Trying to weasel his way home
Just trying to weasel his way home
Like the anointed George Bush clone
Back up to claim the white house throne
Just trying to weasel his way home
Back up to claim that white house throne
But in John’s head there’s no one home

Bumper sticker:

Background: Shot of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue

Text: John McCain Doesn't Need Another House

Oh, fer chrissake. Out-of-touch Obama probably likes arugula. But doesn't McCain own eight homes? Well, it's a complicated question. Let's not go there.

It's the hypocricy, stupid. Who brought up the 'elitist' meme first?

McCain fucked up deluxe this time. No one can be bothered to examine his "economic platform" or foreign policy statements, but having so many houses you can't keep track of 'em is a big no-no even in the lowest-information voting community. A nice, clean symbolism there that lends itself well to various forms of mockery.

The "I can't remember how many homes I own" mistake exposes 2 big attack lines:

1) He's confused and tired (read old) and

2) He's filthy rich and he got rich by marrying rich, not for anything he did on his own.

and

The timings perfect - with the Olympics waning this grabs people's attention. With momentum going into the convention.

and

It opens up big attack lines on both the economy and foreign policy.

The question is whether the democratic "strategists" keep it going or let the air go out as they did when Clark hit home.

And lastly, good luck Calpundit - enjoy the new home at Mother Jones.

I'm pretty sure Kevin is kidding. When your staff comes back later with a reply like "at least four", you know you are an out-of-touch elitist.

See you at Mother Jones, shitheads!

Boom!

Finally...

fixed ... with apologies

What If John Was One Of Us

If John was revealed, what would we see
And would Brian Williams tell you
If he were faced with John without John's baloney
What would he ask if he had just one question

And yeah yeah John is great yeah yeah John is good
yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah

What if John was one of us
Just a slob like one of us
Not some straight-shooter on a bus
Trying to weasel his way home

If John was revealed what would he look like
And would you want to see
If seeing meant that you would have to believe
In things like endless needless thoughtless brainless war

And yeah yeah John is great yeah yeah John is good
yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah

What if John was one of us
Just a slob like one of us
Not some straight-shooter on a bus
Trying to weasel his way home
He's trying to weasel his way home
Back up to claim that white house throne
Three AM callers on the phone
But in John's head there's no one home

And yeah yeah John is great yeah yeah John is good
yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah

What if John was one of us
Just a slob like one of us
Not some straight-shooter on a bus
Trying to weasel his way home
Just trying to weasel his way home
Like the anointed George Bush clone
Back up to claim the white house throne
Just trying to weasel his way home
Back up to claim that white house throne
But in Johnss head there's no one home

I'm voting for the guy who knows how many homes he owns

Get your bumper sticker today!

http://www.cafepress.com/ObamaPOTUS

The difference is that Obama won't put his class ahead of his country.
.

The Obama ad you posted is a good start but needs to go further. The key is to link McCain's policies and his personal finances. Something like this:

John McCain is so rich he doesn't know how many houses he has. McCain's economic plan is to give huge tax cuts to the rich and spend $10 billion dollars a week in Iraq. George Bush already tried that and look where it got us. America can't afford to make the same mistake again.

John McCain does not speak for the McCain campaign.

The presidential debates will be moderated by highly-paid corporate-media "on-air personalities" Jim Lehrer, Gwen Ifill, Tom Brokaw and Bob Shieffer.

I wonder how many houses each of them owns.

Marrying into inherited money is as American as apple pie.

McNasty: (with swagger) I only own four homes... that I know of... Heh heh (winks at camera)

ogmb:

"You state: Marrying into inherited money is as American as apple pie." You forgot one part:

"Divorcing your wife in order to marry up into inherited money is as American as apple pie."

Reminds me of a take-off of the old John Houseman ads for Smith Barney: "We make our money the old-fashioned way. We inherit it or marry into it."

All he needs to do is to select Mitt Romney as his running mate and the charge of being too rich will vanish.

How can a guy be rich if drives hundreds of miles with his dog on the roof of his car?

Democrats trumped again by GOP ingenuity.

*

mhr - I'm positive none of those wealthy Democrats ran campaigns where they hypocritically called their opponents 'elitist'.

Bumper sticker:

"Obama owns just one house, like me."

Looks like the Obama campaign is planning to throw a Republican-sized hissy fit about this; Going around asking average Joe's if they know how many houses they own. That makes me feel kind of icky on the inside, which I'm taking as a good sign.

Bumper sticker:

Background: Shot of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue

Text: John McCain Doesn't Need Another House

sullijan--LOVE it!

Hmmm... anyone know how many homes John Kerry owns? Several or all may be in his wife's name, I would think.

He better get out and count them before he gets the VP nomination!!

...Bob Shieffer.

Never say that. Always say Bob my-brother-Tom-was-Bush's-business-partner-and-Bush-appointed-US-ambassador-to-Australia-and-Japan Schieffer.

Lifestyles of the rich and senile. Damn. I'd hate to be the staffer who changes McCain's diaper today.
.

"Leave him alone." Tongue-in-cheek, right?

But about which should we leave him alone? He can't remember, he can't discuss it, he can't remember they're owned by his wife...that he's running for President...that he called Obama elitist...or that he has to have staff remind him his wife owns everything...including him.

Maybe he needs that radio receiver Bush used during the debates to such great effect.
Oh, of course, he didn't use one. It's just he performed so eloquently when he had that little box in his back.

This ad and the one based on McCain's association with the evil mastermind/lobbyist Jack Abramoff only confirms the fact that the Obama campaign is staffed by losers who are going to get chewed up and spit out by the McCain campaign.

As Mark Hemmingway posted in the Corner: "why does Obama want to make an issue of McCain's houses? He's just opening himself up. McCain (or Cindy at least) paid for his houses — Obama bought his with help from someone who was just found guilty of six counts of wire fraud, six counts of mail fraud, two counts of corrupt solicitation, and two counts of money laundering."

Gee, I wonder if any "reporter" in the mainstream media would actually do a story about how a major parties' presidential nominee is financially connected with a convicted felon. Not when the major party is the Democrats and candidate is the One. No one could possibly be interested in that? Right?

Kevin-
As a lifelong resident of The OC, I have one question for you.
What are you doing staying in Irvine. If I had a choice between Sedona or Irvine, California would be in my rear view mirror.

Kevin... you know you own one home and are part owner of another... pretty simple. The fact that he doesn't know about his home ownership is because he's an idiot.

That's a legitimate political point.

One think you have to be aware of if you try to portray John McCain as part of the wealthy elite is the "Kansas effect." You know, from the book "What's the Matter With Kansas?"

A lot of right-wing Christians are proud of their sacrifice and lives lived in poverty if they believe they are part of a larger movement like Right to Life. Since McCain's mouth is stuffed with sawdust when he speaks about abortion he isn't tapping into that demographic, but Romney's position is clearer and he may help McCain motivate the Christian right.

I wonder how McCain's real estate portfolio is financed. If the houses have mortgages he must get some whopping interest deductions when his accountant files his taxes.

I'll bet that With 10+ houses McCain doesn't use Turbo Tax to file his taxes. Another way he just isn't like me.

Lets not lose sight of the fact that the objective is to win the election!

Forget about "leaving the poor guy alone"-type sentiments...by all means eschew stuff that's flat wrong or really inappropriate, but come on, this is exactly the sort of thing that should be out there...a little unfair, sure, but rooted in some important truths - e.g. the guy's out of touch with the concerns of common folks.

Background: Shot of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue...Text: John McCain Doesn't Need Another House

I'm late to the thread because I have been working on that very image in photoshop! Great minds, I guess!

As countless Americans are facing home foreclosure and the economy is the number one issue facing the electorate, it would be comforting for a nominee for President to be able to count his homes.

How is it that McCain can remember what Obama eats for lunch (arugula) but he can't remember how many houses he owns?

Why do Republicans always say "I don't remember," or "I can't answer that. . ." whenever they get asked an honest, direct question? McCain suffers from AGS -- Alberto Gonzales Syndrome.

That was me at 2:22 - sorry about the unsigned post.

The point is not that McCain owns a bunch of houses or is super rich; I could care less if he owned 94 houses and was worth a bajillion dollars if he would only acknowledge that most people aren't just like him. But the fact that he and his supporters degrade the real economic pain that millions of Americans are feeling and just laugh at how rich they all are is why this should irk everyone who made anything less than a few million bucks last year. This shows that McCain really is not in touch with the people he hopes to represent. He doesn't show any appreciation for being in an economically stable situation and even less sympathy for those who are in economic pain.

*Ahem* How many homes did the previous Democratic candidate for President own?

That was me at 2:22 - sorry about the unsigned post.

"McCain's homes are probably all in Cindy's name anyway, so technically he doesn't own any homes."

Well, if Cindy doesn't want him to own a house, I'm damned if I'll let him use the White House*.

Ed

* Idea stolen from another blog, but that's not theft, it's a "meme."

dru:

What burns me is this latest McCain ad running in jesusland saying "John McCain is the original maverick. He's taken on the tobacco and pharmaceutical companies."

McCain is a card-carrying member of the richest, most elite 1% of Americans. The image of himself he is trying to spin needs to be attacked and debunked. I loathe the GOP "I'm one of you" hypocrisy.

*Ahem* How many homes did the previous Democratic candidate for President own?

Five. But he at least knew the answer when asked, he didn't need his "people" to get back to anyone.

sullijan: Watch the Obama ad--it does the 1600 Pennsylvania bit at the end.

How how long will it be before McSame suddenly
finds renters for most of these properties,
and remakes himself as a benevolent landloard.

Or farms them out to a property mgr, to lease to
corporate junkets, and lobbyists, especially for
to provide trysting spots for captive pols.

My guess: 2-3 days, top.

Five. But he at least knew the answer when asked, he didn't need his "people" to get back to anyone.

He also wasn't daily attacking his opponent as a "pointy-headed professor-type" arugula-eating elitist celebrity who's living a grand life.

It's the hypocrisy, stupid.

It's childish, perhaps, but they started it.

Do you want to be high minded or win the election?

McCain set the tone and the press has run with it. We're fools if we don't do the same.

Not that I expect anything helpful from see-no-evil types like Kevin. The Washington Post call you yet, Kevin?

And thus prove your unfitness to run for public office...what's your point? Once again, Kevin is getting awfully close to Matt Miller level mushy middle sympathy (for the devil) trolling.

Shorter Kevin: John McCain is a kept man.

"... and liberals are predictably kicking up a fuss."

no, dipshit, it is not just liberals - it is the people getting shit on by the powers that be who think this is f***ing insane.

i have never been able to own a home and probably will never be able to do so.

and as a final note - due to this kind of stupid nonsense from you don't let the door hit you in the ass on the way out.

ciao.

Chicocounsel: Gee, I wonder if any "reporter" in the mainstream media would actually do a story about how a major parties' presidential nominee is financially connected with a convicted felon.

Sure!

Keating Scandal Still Haunts McCain
Associated Press
March 24, 2008

....In his early days as a freshman senator, McCain was known for accepting contributions from Charles Keating Jr., flying to the banker's home in the Bahamas on company planes and taking up Keating's cause with U.S. financial regulators as they investigated him....McCain's campaigns received $112,000.

....Keating went to prison for more than four years after a federal fraud conviction. The conviction was reversed on appeal after he argued that jurors improperly had knowledge of a prior state conviction on related charges. He was to be retried in federal court but instead pleaded guilty to four federal fraud counts. Keating admitted he siphoned nearly $1 million from his S&L's insolvent parent company. He was sentenced to time he already had served.....

Chicounsel wrote: This ad and the one based on McCain's association with the evil mastermind/lobbyist Jack Abramoff only confirms the fact that the Obama campaign is staffed by losers who are going to get chewed up and spit out by the McCain campaign.

Yeah, because the McLame campaign has been running like a well-oiled freakin' machine so far.

Get bent, Chicounsel.

Look, let's stop calling them houses. For the most part they're estates. Really, when you have five houses on on piece of property it's an estate. When you have more than two acres, it's an estate.

Well, not all of them are estates. Some are merely mansions and luxurious multi-million dollar penthouses.....

Poor McCain. I'll bet he can't even afford a rooftop swimming pool on ALL of his homes/condos.

Say, does John McCain remember when he opposed offshore drilling for oil?

John McCain isn't sure how many homes he owns?

—Kevin Drum

John McCain doesn't know his ass from two bars of soap. Let this be the beginning of relentless attacks that show this guy is one dumb and ignorant motherfucker.

And, Dems, please stop praising this guy before you attack him. Just attack him. He is one nasty piece of work. He's not risky because he has a short fuse. He is risky because he is stupid and ignorant -- and senile.

Bumpersticker: John McCain: One Dumb Motherfucker!

Kevin, you

a) have just one home

b) regardless of the state of organization of your affairs, are not running for President of the United States.

If you were, I wouldn't go this easy on you.

Good point Econobuzz!

How can he remember how many homes he has while being an elitist, liar, war monger, cheater.

If he is so strong, why did we enter into the Iraq war with such a bad war strategy ?????????
The surge was the band aid for the screw up, to stop the bleeding, that he was involved in. Now he wants all the credit for the surge. How can he claim being the hero for the surge. 4+4 dont equal 10.

Well he knows how to instigate a conflict between Russia and Georgia. Warmonger!

He is going to restart the draft so he can play his war games full time!

Time to take off his fassad and see the real mean McCain!

He did a great job at the forum. How conviently being a half hour late!

I would like to see the classified sections of his military record! Somthin fishy here. I wish the news media would dig them out. He has worked hard to keep them confidential, also....

When are you idiot democrats going to admit you are making a mistake? McCain signed a prenuptial agreement before he & Mrs. McCain married. “THE” houses are hers & her family, not McCain’s. I didn’t see any Republicans talking about “The Kennedy Compound” years ago ! And just for grins, how many houses does John Kerry Heins have???

God, the mainstream media is just as awful as Limbaugh says it is.

ebb, the question McCain was asked (and was unable to answer) by Politico the other day was, "how many homes do you and Mrs. McCain own?", not "how many houses do you own?" If you cannot understand the difference between those 2 questions, then you are the "idiot", not "the democrats".