Who is out of touch?

For the past few weeks, millionaire John McCain has been trolling about the country, running campaign ads portraying Obama as some sort of pampered celebrity who is out of touch and incapable of relating to everyday folk. This is the same McCain who comes from one of the wealthiest families in Arizona, who left his first wife to marry a millionaire heiress, who owns multiple homes, who paid $500 for a pair of shoes, who appeared on the show 24, who has hosted Saturday Night Live, and who has appeared in the movie Wedding Crashers. The man who graduated fifth from the bottom of his class, and who made it into the Senate propelled by his fame, is criticizing the son of a goat herder and a single mother, who used to live on food stamps, and who went to Harvard on scholarship. According to McCain, Obama is a wealthy elitist celebrity

Well, this absurd line of argument has finally come back to bite McCain. In a recent interview with Politico, McCain was asked how many houses he owns. This was the (now infamous) response:

Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) said in an interview Wednesday that he was uncertain how many houses he and his wife, Cindy, own.

"I think — I'll have my staff get to you," McCain told Politico in Las Cruces, N.M.

The correct answer, it turns out, is seveneight. The man who was criticizing the son of a goat herder for out-of-touch elitism can't even keep track of how many houses he owns. On top of that, McCain has a $273,000 budget for household staff and can't remember what kind of car he drives (the correct answer is Cadillac CTS).

This is really a beautiful moment. The Obama campaign hasn't missed out on it, either. They recently ran these two ads:




In perspective, this new McCain ad looks really, really weak.


In light of McCain's recent statements, these ads will finally be recognized as being absurdly backwards.