Those Rich Candidates So Relate to the Average American

  Republican presidential candidate John McCain was recently asked how many houses he owned and he couldn’t answer the question, saying that he’d have his staff find out.

  When you’re trying to pin your opponent as elitist and out of touch with the American people, it’s probably not a good idea to lose track of how many homes you have. The second worst thing is probably saying that you’ll have your staff look in to it. It’s a problem all Americans can relate to: having no idea what our net worth is and asking someone on our payroll to check into it. The only worse response McCain could have given was, “How many homes do I have? Not enough, that’s for sure. Damn, my feet are killing me. You’d think when you spend $500 on a pair of shoes they’d at least be comfortable.”

  It’s not like he was asked how many ties he had. Or how many ice cream cones he generally eats in a week. We’re talking about homes! McCain’s obliviousness about his own real estate shouldn’t come as a surprise. When asked to quantify what is “rich”, he said $5 million. That’s not just rich, that’s the highest one tenth of one percent income bracket. Put another way, it you had $5 million you’d have more money than 99.9% of people in this country.

  What’s fascinating is how hard both McCain and Democratic candidate Barack Obama are fighting over which candidate can more relate to regular Americans. One has been in Washington for over two decades and is married to a woman worth up to $100 million (McCain); the other is a Columbia and Harvard educated lawyer who (with his wife) made around $4 million last year (Obama). It seems like neither has that much in common with the average citizen.

  In response to the Obama campaign attacking McCain for being out of touch with the American people, a McCain spokesperson said, “Does a guy who worries about the price of arugula…really want to have a debate about who’s in touch with the regular Americans?” Um, excuse me, Obama made $4 million last year. I don’t think he’s sweating it if the arugula is $2 more expensive at Whole Foods than it is at the farmer’s market. And actually, a debate sounds like a great idea. It doesn’t even have to be a debate. I propose one question with a straightforward answer:

  Besides houses and cars, what’s the most expensive thing you ever purchased, and about how much did it cost?

  If either said their most expensive purchase was a 60” plasma television, I’d say that they actually did relate to the public. But I’m sure their real answers would reveal just how little they’re like the average American.