Welcome Hilzoy from a faithful Carpetbagger transplant! Congrats!

"With that [elitist] line of attack neutralized, perhaps we can get to actual issues."

Hear hear.

Nice to have you here, Hilzoy.

I don't share your belief that this will take us anywhere near the examination of actual issues, but agree with your analysis: This just wholly disarmed the GOP's "your guy's out of touch" theme.

Since we can't get anyone to discuss McCain's policy positions, I'll take what we can get, and this screwup has a powerful simplicity and symbolism behind it.

Do you know how many assets you pay taxes on? Do you know what you will be faced with if your spouse departs the world before you? Do you know if you signed any escrow papers with your name on them?

Do you know the current account deficit of the United States? Do you have a plan to fund an expansion of the military or a draft? Do you have any idea if the 5 biggest oil companies in the world are paid up on their oil leases and resource royalties? How much will it cost to build 100 nuclear power plants?

Just askin'.

About time. With that line of attack neutralized, perhaps we can get to actual issues.

Only the "perhaps" saves this from being the most preposterously naive thing ever written.

I want to see McCain defeated as much as anyone -- but there is a problem with your argument. McCain doesn't present himself as a "man of the people" -- he acknowledges his elite background in stump presentations. His message when talking to working class audiences isn't "I'm one of you," it is, instead, "I don't share your experiences, but I respect them."

This is a smart move. People are less concerned about a candidate's economic circumstances than they are concerned about whether he understands and respects theirs.

If "elitist" sticks to Obama in any way, it won't be because he made $4 mil last year or lives in a "mansion" (as the McCain camp described it). It will be because in describing working people as "bitter" he indicated that his conception of the working class was more patronizing than respectful.

Working people don't want liberals' pity, or their pop sociology explanations, they want their respect. If you don't respect a constituency, you certainly aren't going to be able to represent it.

. . . perhaps we can get to actual issues . . . . . . I wait . . . and wait.

agreed Mari. . .er, shortstop.

Now we just need to pile on. "McCain can't remember how many houses he has. He told Pastor Rick that he defines "rich" as having $5 million. He admits that he shares George Bush's views on the economy. His wife is a wealthy heiress. And he screams that I'm the celebrity? John McCain is a lot more likely to share a zip code with Paris Hilton than I am. I believe in tax cuts for hard working Americans like you, not for those already lucky few who own 7 homes and haven't shown up to work all year." etc etc etc.

No letting up!

And if I might add, both Obama and his wife have put their financial reports/tax returns out to the public. Mrs. McLame has not. Why not, if he is using her corporate jet to campaign?

McCain, just like the "rest of us", flashing the gold while trashing the "elites".

McCain has been dependent on the government titty since his birth in a US hospital in Panama, C.Z.
How would he know what it is like to live in the civilian world and make ends meet with medical costs skyrocketing, health insurance premiums skyrocketing, the costs of college tuition skyrocketing, pension plans being eviscerated, after retirement health benefits being dropped, dealing with rapidly rising costs of living, etc. etc.

So, while double dipping on his military pension and social security, earning his salary in the Senate with awesome benefits, and living the life of luxury via his 2nd marriage, McCain is just like "the rest of us"?

Nice article. One little thing: Since you're attributing lot of quotes to McCain, I think you should be more explicit when you quote Yglesias. Read quickly it looks like McCain is saying things like "In short, not only is Russia on the march beyond Tbilisi to Ukraine, Finland, and substantial swathes of Poland but that's not even the transcendent issue of our time..."

"McCain doesn't present himself as a "man of the people" -- he acknowledges his elite background in stump presentations."

No, he doesn't.

To the contrary, in both stump speeches and his commercials, McCain does quite the opposite (and his media base has, until now, let him get away with it).

Hi everyone -- I'm really glad to be here.

The last sentence was meant to be read in a sort of ruefully ironic way. I am not, of course, actually expecting any such thing. Because, of course, it's not my ideal world.

"Morning Joe" Scarborough said it just a few weeks ago. That's just what we--yeah, he said "We" referring to Republics--do. If you're going to run as a Democrat, we tag you as an elitist.

It is a totally automatic action, done with no thought whatsoever. Articulated by Joe Scarborough, graduate of Vanderbilt University--you know, one of these average public colleges that everyday people attend.

"I don't share your experiences, but I respect them."

Warning: Offer of respect not valid for women, minorities, union members, non-Christians, homosexuals, liberals, progressives, Democrats, residents of solid blue states, ...

Kudos to John McCain for his great Ralph Kramden impersonation in answering the homes question. This was the best straight talk answer of his campaign.

I am not, of course, actually expecting any such thing. Because, of course, it's not my ideal world.

We'll try not to be so literal going forward!

(Heya, zeit!)

Perhaps the tidbit that was most telling about McCain's visit to the Ohio supermarket while Obama was in Europe was not his interview in the cheese aisle or knocking over the applesauce that the late night comics ridiculed.

It was his comment to the mom of small children in the applesauce aisle. He was discussing the high price of groceries with her, and she stopped to get some applesauce. McCain reached for a case of single-size serving cups. The woman said, "Oh, we usually get the large family size jar" - and she pointed to it on the shelf. McCain placed the single-size serving cups in her cart anyway, saying, "What's the difference?"

This is a man who has never had to grocery shop on a budget (actually, I doubt he's ever had to do his own grocery shopping), and has no clue why it's more economical to buy a family size anything rather than single servings.

Perhaps the tidbit that was most telling about McCain's visit to the Ohio supermarket while Obama was in Europe was not his interview in the cheese aisle or knocking over the applesauce that the late night comics ridiculed.

It was his comment to the mom of small children in the applesauce aisle. He was discussing the high price of groceries with her, and she stopped to get some applesauce. McCain reached for a case of single-size serving cups. The woman said, "Oh, we usually get the large family size jar" - and she pointed to it on the shelf. McCain placed the single-size serving cups in her cart anyway, saying, "What's the difference?"

This is a man who has never had to grocery shop on a budget (actually, I doubt he's ever had to do his own grocery shopping), and has no clue why it's more economical to buy a family size anything rather than single servings.

"With that line of attack neutralized, perhaps we can get to actual issues."

And if you believe that I have some beachfront property in South Dakota for sale!

"Actual issues" are boring and the mainstream media will never let us get to them lest they lose their ratings. Two nights ago I brushed passed "Headline News" and the anchor person was talking about how "high school" it was for John Mayer to be talking about his breakup with Jennifer Anniston. When I breezed passes five minutes later they were still talking about it.

I hope you are right but experience does not leave me confident. If we'd all been paying attention McCain would have been laughed out of the campaign months ago.

One more thing that needs to be tied together. McCain may not know how many houses his wife owns (he evidently owns none), but he certainly has an idea of their income bracket. And it is no coincidence that his tax plan has huge cuts for people in his and his wife's tax bracket. In other words, he cares enough to give himself a big tax break. Obama, OTOH, cares enough about ordinary people to give HIMSELF a tax increase so that there will be revenue enough to give ordinary people (you) a substantial tax break. That should be the message out of this.

In case not mentioned in this thread yet, here from comments in thread above is this *gem* if only we can push it around:

>But wait! There's more!

“As Newsweek reported last month, the McCains didn’t pay their tax bill on the property for four years – even with the ridiculously low perks under California's Proposition 13. Only after a reporter brought it to their attention did they quietly pay the bill – but the treasurer in San Diego still says they have underpaid the county $1,742. Ironically, McCain has cautioned against assistance for foreclosing homeowners because “any assistance must not reward those who were irresponsible at the expense of those who weren’t.”

>http://www.beyondchron.org/articles/McCain_Owes_Back_Taxes_on_One_of_His_Seven_Homes__6002.html

Posted by: Nashville_fan on August 22, 2008 at 12:17 PM

Working people don't want liberals' pity, or their pop sociology explanations, they want their respect. If you don't respect a constituency, you certainly aren't going to be able to represent it.

Via Atrios today, this is how much Gigolo John respects working people:

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.”

Some in the crowd said they didn’t appreciate McCain questioning their work ethic.

So John McCain thinks that an able-bodied American isn't strong enough, isn't tough enough, can't do the work that an illegal Mexican immigrant can. Talk about contempt for the American worker....

What I find odd in all this is that McCain can't make a move or make an appearnce without "the heiress" glued to his arm. The woman reeks of privilage. Its an odd picture to be presenting nonstop while trying to paint the very ordianry looking Obamas as elitists.

What's with the liberals like Hiljoy?

If you want to win a game, don't worry about the irrationality or absurdity of the rules. Just play it.

this constant fantasizing about an ideal world where politics is beanbag takes away from your energies required to actually fight the bastards.

Did you hear that McCain used a 9-car motorcade to get a cup of cappuccino at a Starbucks near his Sedona Estate?

I think "Cappuccino-sipping Conservative" should become as widespread as "Latte sipping Liberal" now, don't you?

About time. With that line of attack neutralized, perhaps we can get to actual issues.


Of course. Like Jeremiah Wright.

The dems should keep repeating, McCain is to confused to govern. That way every time he lies, it can be pointed out as an example of his incompetentcy. Might not hurt to point out he was at the bottom of his class and probably only graduated because his father was an admiral.

I wonder who McCain vacations with. Who are his close friends (if he has any)? Does he hang out with lobbyists or somebody he went to school with or other politicians or somebody else?

Hilzoy: It does make it clear just how wealthy he and his wife are, and it raises the question how well he understands life outside the cocoon of privilege.

It also highlights McCain's hypocrisy in big, blinking neon letters.

Having said that, it would be nice if coverage of the candidates didn't resemble an episode of Inside Edition.