Maybe McCain thinks this economy is working for folks like him. But how are things going for you?
OBAMA: I’m Barack Obama, and I approve this message.
ANNOUNCER: Call it “Country Club Economics.”
How many houses does he own? John McCain says he can’t even remember anymore. Well, it’s seven.
No wonder McCain just said the fundamentals of our economy are strong. And anyone making less than five-million-dollars-a-year is middle-class.
Maybe McCain thinks this economy is working for folks like him. But how are things going for you?
5 comments
#1 David Aug 25, 2008
I think that it points out how entrenched that average politician is, by the time they get to a position where they might do something they are not the average citizen. I am sure McCain did know how many houses he had but was too self-conscious to answer.
#2 Eric H Aug 28, 2008 (edited by poster)
Actually, he probably didn't know exactly how many houses were in the family because Cindy McCain owns some and there are several owned by Limited Liability Partnerships. PolitiFact puts the number at 8. c.f. http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/635/
McCain released a counter-ad attacking Obama's home ownership in response to this ad. I didn't see it on speechology, but you can see the original ad here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vjC2AlWy6CI. FactCheck.org had a field day with that one: http://www.factcheck.org/elections-2008/rezko_reality.html.
/eh
#3 Eric H Aug 28, 2008
CBS News' blog "Horserace" clarifies the distorted "anyone making less than $5 million a year is middle class" claim:
From Horserace: “And anyone making less than five-million-dollars-a-year is middle-class,” the announcer adds. This is a reference to McCain’s comment to Rick Warren that a $5 million income is what it takes to be considered rich, a comment his campaign later said was a joke and McCain predicted would be distorted."
I'm not sure why either campaign is so quick to distort the truth in this way. I guess because they know 99.99% of the time they'll get away with it as people either don't do the research or don't get upset when they find out they've been fed a lie?
#4 Matt Aug 29, 2008
Well you have to admit, McCain's actual answer to the rich question wasn't worth squat. The question was "give me a number," and the best he could come up with was "some of the poorest people are rich in other ways." I suppose he threw out the $5 million number once he realized he hadn't actually answered the question.
#5 Eric H Aug 29, 2008
Here is what he actually said during the interview in which the "how do you define rich" question came up: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Q2sAFH7zj0.
Has answer really only sounds out of touch with reality if you repeat the "$5 million" and leave off all of the other parts of his answer, including the part where he predicts that the $5 million number will be distorted (or in the case taken out of context).
The number is too high, but that's because he didn't want to answer the question with a number but rather use it to illustrate his point. Maybe not a great way to construct an answer, but the Obama ad "Out of Touch" says "McCain just said ... that anyone making less than $5 million a year is a middle class" which is a massive, shameless distortion of his answer.