We’ve all forgotten things before. Like where the car keys are. And what time the appointment is. How many houses we own….
The problem is when you are running for president and you are trying to appeal to the middle class, the “forgetting how many houses you own” thing could be an issue.
That is the issue John McCain finds himself in after not being able to tell a Politico reporter how many homes he owns. “I think - I’ll have my staff get to you,” he said.
The answer is four. But, this on top of the five million dollar remark at last Saturday’s event with pastor Rick Warren, is giving McCain some headaches today.
Barack Obama seized on both McCain gaffes today speaking at a town hall meeting in Richmond, Virginia.
“I guess if you think that being rich means you’ve got to make $5 million, and if you don’t know how many houses you have, then it’s not surprising that you might think the economy was fundamentally strong,” he said. “If you’re like me, and you’ve got one house, or you are like the millions of people who are struggling right now to keep up with their mortgage so they don’t lose their home, you might have different perspective.”
Bring it on
As reported in the Washington Post, McCain spokesman Brian Rogers had a, well, un-Dana-Perino-esque response in stating that the focus should be on Obama’s house.
“It’s a frickin’ mansion,” he said. “He [Obama] doesn’t tell people that. You have a mansion you bought in a shady deal with a convicted felon.”
No word on whether Rogers followed the statement with the obligatory, “It’s go time!” or “You want a piece of me?” or “Don’t mess with the best cuz’ the best don’t mess.”
Rogers was talking about Tony Rezko who was recently convicted of wire and mail fraud, money laundering and aiding and abetting bribery who is a former friend of Obama’s.