When I was asked the other day how many homes I have, I responded that I didn't really know.  Senator Obama wants to spin that to mean that I'm not in touch with the lives of everyday Americans.  The reality is that, yeah, the McCains own a bunch of real estate, most of it because of the good fortune of my wife.  And it probably doesn't much matter whether I own the homes, or my wife owns them or some trust owns them; I know I am living in very fortunate circumstances and I am grateful for that.  

But what I own is not a measure of how in touch or out of touch I am with everyday people.  When you've called a North Vietnamese prison cell home for over 5 years, you get up close and personal with problems.  And when you finally get your freedom, you realize that anywhere you can lay your head at night and go to sleep without fear for that freedom, is a place you can call home.  So, no, I don't spend much time thinking about what I own or how much I own; I spend my time thinking about how I can keep Americans from going to bed at night in fear for their freedom, so no one ever has to feel or live through what I did.

Also, Rogers made sure to play the anti-intellectual card: "In terms of who's an elitist, I think people have made a judgment that John McCain is not an arugula-eating, pointy headed professor-type based on his life story."

They are using his time as a POW against charges he's elitist. Elitists are seen as weak. POWs, not so much. Elitsts don't suffer/sacrifice much, POWs, well . . . .  I personally think it's stupid to try and paint McCain as one and coming from Obama? HA! McCain just doesn't come off as an elitist no matter how many houses his wife owns. Heck, she doesn't come off as one either if you know anything about her. Obama and his wife are another story. You don't whine to working class voters about paying 10 grand a year for lessons for your kids!

Using POW regarding the "cheating" charge also works because of his history as a POW/while he was one. Honorable.

I get the same bad taste listening to liberals mock McCain-about his age and his service.

I disagree with almost everything he supports but there is a line of decency I always expected that progressives wouldn't cross. Watching so many "progressives" burn the witch at the stake shocked me into a whole new perspective of our own party.

People in glass houses need not bring up this issue.

Instead they need to talk about how CEOs have gone from making 10x their lowest employees to making 300x the lowest salary.
And we need to imprint the words of Jusice Louis Brandeis somewhere for all to be reminded:
"We can have democracy in this country, or we can have great wealth concentrated in the hands of a few, but we can't have both."

The guilded age of robber barons seems to have returned: ie, the wealth of the period is highlighted by the American upper class's opulent self-indulgence.  Is this not familiar??  It's here again and pointing it out about McCain seems redundant to me. If people still do not get that it is unfair to tax the rest of us for our work, our winnings if we win money, but not to tax the people who win the DNA lottery, then it will probably take another revolution like the one in France....

Here's a real life example. I was one of the people who DID NOT get the stimulous rebate...not a penny.  WHY?   Well I worked while retired putting my income too high....
NOW, understand I would not complain.  I am a retired teacher with a better than average retirement income.  But as a single woman who had no inheritance ever, I have worked for everything I have, still have a morgage since I refinanced often to pay for fixing up the old house I bought years ago.  Again, no big deal EXCEPT for this:
almost every one of my friends got the FULL REBATE.  Most of them are also retired teachers.  But they are wealthy enough (most of them from inheritance) that they have all their money in stocks and bonds, and whatever.  
*One couple owns three places...a regular house (much more expensive and bigger than mine).  25 acres of mountain property with a home on it.  An RV trailer with two bedrooms in the town where they keep their boat.
* Another couple owns their home, a million dollar structure and probably have a couple million in the market.
**Another has a home in the mountains and one on the beach in FL.  
I could go on and on and on.  I was stunned when I found out I did not qualify.  I work extra so that I can do extra things......or fix things, or get a roof.  They don't because they have inheritances.

"We're delighted to have a real estate debate with Barack Obama," said spokesman Brian Rogers, adding that the press should focus on Obama's house. "It's a frickin' mansion. He doesn't tell people that. You have a mansion you bought in a shady deal with a convicted felon."

Or, one can look at what his fellow POW - who also lived across the hall from him at Annapolis, wrote on military.com a while back:

I furthermore believe that having been a POW is no special qualification for being President of the United States. The two jobs are not the same, and POW experience is not, in my opinion, something I would look for in a presidential candidate.

Most of us who survived that experience are now in our late 60's and 70's. Sadly, we have died and are dying off at a greater rate than our non-POW contemporaries. We experienced injuries and malnutrition that are coming home to roost. So I believe John's age (73) and survival expectation are not good for being elected to serve as our President for 4 or more years.

I can verify that John has an infamous reputation for being a hot head. He has a quick and explosive temper that many have experienced first hand. Folks, quite honestly that is not the finger I want next to that red button.

No, I don't want it there, either.

The lack of logical and humane consistency here is obvious.  And McCain's stammering answer to the question will be, as well.  

Here's what Obama actually said, which sounds more like distancing than repudiation:

Asked whether General Clark should apologize, Mr. Obama said: "I guess my question is why, given all the vast numbers of things that we got to work on, that that would be a top priority of mine? I think that right now we're here to talk about how we can make sure the kids in Zanesville and across Ohio get the kind of support that they need in communities that are impoverished can start to rebuild.

"I'm happy to have all sorts of conversations about how we deal with Iraq and what happens with Iran, but the fact that somebody on a cable or on a news show like General Clark said something that was inartful about senator McCain, I don't think is probably the thing that is keeping Ohioans up at night."

Let's see what we're counting. (We should note that McCain doesn't own any homes, or houses, or residences - they're all held by Cindy or by business entities on her side of the family,)

McCain, like Obama, has a primary residence ... Obama's in Chicago, McCain's in Phoenix. That shouldn't be an object of controversy.

McCain, like Obama, has a DC area residence. No controversy there either.

The La Jolla condo Cindy's aged aunt lives in shouldn't count as one of McCain's homes, should it?

The one they bought in Phoenix for daughter Meghan shouldn't count, should it? Really? Does it still count if she's gone and it's for sale?

How about the extra unit in the same building as the McCains' primary residence. I don't know if they use it as guest quarters, or business-guest quarters, or staff-guest quarters (saving on hotel expense), or just picked it up as an opportunistic investment ... but it's not "house or home" to McCain, who never stays there.

The Sedona ranch is a big fancy spread ... rich folks stuff. One fancy house ... or five, depending how you count structures on the compound. (It would be a tad surprising if the Obamas, by the time they reach similar age and attainments, don't have the Chicago equivalent -- lake property somewhere, with more than one cabin.)

That leaves a pair of beachfront condos in San Diego, held as investment property for the heirs and used heavily by Cindy's side of the family. John's not much for the beach, they say (and with his melanoma who can blame him), though I assume he stays in one of these occasionally.