Nathan Tyree: I live in one, but the bank owns it
In 1984 I watched as Dukakis went from being a shoe in for the Presidency, to collapsing in a heap of failure. It did not come down to "real issues", but rather to two moments. One was a photo-op that didn't look as good as planned. Dukakis posed in a tank and looked, well, goofy. Some people took to calling him Snoopy after that. The other was the Willie Horton ad that the Reagan hit squad ran. It was the race card; nasty politics; dirty pool. And it worked.
In 2004 John Kerry was taken down by the Swift Boaters. Again, dirty politics at its worst. Kerry could have recovered, but didn't understand how (or that he needed ) to fight back.
We as Democrats rarely sink to those levels. That's why we normally don't get those moments. This year John McCain decided to take out his own knees, and our candidate, Barack Obama, knows how to attack. The narrative is simple. It's easy to understand. John McCain is a super rich elitist who is out of touch with regular Americans. He does not understand our problems, nor does he care about them. Follow along:
John Sydney McCain cannot keep track of how many homes he owns. He told an interviewer from The Politico that he would have his staff "get back to you" on that subject. The McCain camp released a statement claiming that John and Cindy have four homes. It turns out that that estimate is on the low side. It's seven. Or eight. No wait, it's ten. Eleven. Twelve? Does anyone know? His campaign then released a series of grumpy statements demanding that as a former P.O.W. he shouldn't be criticized. McCain is also unsure what car he drives (it's a Cadillac, by the way). Those homes cost more than a million dollars each. They are luxuriant. One of them, his ranch, was featured on the cover of Architectural Digest. He is, not to put too fine a point on it, really fucking rich. Even by his standards (McCain said at the Saddleback forum that one is wealthy if they earn more than five million dollars a year) he is quite wealthy. Last year he took in more than six million dollars to add to his family fortune, which already exceeds 100 million dollars ($100M). On top of his vast holdings, McCain received his Senate salary (nearly $200,000), his Naval Pension ($57,000) and, of course, he gets his Social Security check each month (means testing, anyone?). He has plenty. In addition to the eight (nine? ten? twelve? thirty?) homes that he and his wife share he has the aforementioned Cadillac that he can't remember plus a Lexus, a variety of $500 Italian loafers, a private jet, some oil holdings, a cadre of lobbyists, and all the Ovaltine a man could want. He did give back that thirty grand to Charles Keating (after he got busted), but then, what's 30K to Sydney?
Is it any surprise that John S. McCain thinks that the economy is "fundamentally strong" or that the architect of his economic plan (Phil Gramm) thinks that the recession is all in our heads and that poor Americans are Whining ? Does it surprise anyone that this fellow wants billions in tax cuts for big oil and greedy corporations that ship jobs overseas?
Of course, McCain himself has said that he doesn't know much about economics and even admitted that people who are worried about the housing crises aren't likely to vote for him anyway.
All of this is easy to understand and repeat. And the Obama campaign is already hitting hard. Two new ads. Surrogates dispatched all over the country. Obama’s speeches. And it will be the hot topic of the convention.
Now if we can just get McCain to choose Mitt “Mittens†Romney (super rich elitist flip flopper who abuses dogs) it will all be over.
In 1984 I watched as Dukakis went from being a shoe in for the Presidency, to collapsing in a heap of failure. It did not come down to "real issues", but rather to two moments. One was a photo-op that didn't look as good as planned. Dukakis posed in a tank and looked, well, goofy. Some people took to calling him Snoopy after that. The other was the Willie Horton ad that the Reagan hit squad ran. It was the race card; nasty politics; dirty pool. And it worked.
In 2004 John Kerry was taken down by the Swift Boaters. Again, dirty politics at its worst. Kerry could have recovered, but didn't understand how (or that he needed ) to fight back.
We as Democrats rarely sink to those levels. That's why we normally don't get those moments. This year John McCain decided to take out his own knees, and our candidate, Barack Obama, knows how to attack. The narrative is simple. It's easy to understand. John McCain is a super rich elitist who is out of touch with regular Americans. He does not understand our problems, nor does he care about them. Follow along:
John Sydney McCain cannot keep track of how many homes he owns. He told an interviewer from The Politico that he would have his staff "get back to you" on that subject. The McCain camp released a statement claiming that John and Cindy have four homes. It turns out that that estimate is on the low side. It's seven. Or eight. No wait, it's ten. Eleven. Twelve? Does anyone know? His campaign then released a series of grumpy statements demanding that as a former P.O.W. he shouldn't be criticized. McCain is also unsure what car he drives (it's a Cadillac, by the way). Those homes cost more than a million dollars each. They are luxuriant. One of them, his ranch, was featured on the cover of Architectural Digest. He is, not to put too fine a point on it, really fucking rich. Even by his standards (McCain said at the Saddleback forum that one is wealthy if they earn more than five million dollars a year) he is quite wealthy. Last year he took in more than six million dollars to add to his family fortune, which already exceeds 100 million dollars ($100M). On top of his vast holdings, McCain received his Senate salary (nearly $200,000), his Naval Pension ($57,000) and, of course, he gets his Social Security check each month (means testing, anyone?). He has plenty. In addition to the eight (nine? ten? twelve? thirty?) homes that he and his wife share he has the aforementioned Cadillac that he can't remember plus a Lexus, a variety of $500 Italian loafers, a private jet, some oil holdings, a cadre of lobbyists, and all the Ovaltine a man could want. He did give back that thirty grand to Charles Keating (after he got busted), but then, what's 30K to Sydney?
Is it any surprise that John S. McCain thinks that the economy is "fundamentally strong" or that the architect of his economic plan (Phil Gramm) thinks that the recession is all in our heads and that poor Americans are Whining ? Does it surprise anyone that this fellow wants billions in tax cuts for big oil and greedy corporations that ship jobs overseas?
Of course, McCain himself has said that he doesn't know much about economics and even admitted that people who are worried about the housing crises aren't likely to vote for him anyway.
All of this is easy to understand and repeat. And the Obama campaign is already hitting hard. Two new ads. Surrogates dispatched all over the country. Obama’s speeches. And it will be the hot topic of the convention.
Now if we can just get McCain to choose Mitt “Mittens†Romney (super rich elitist flip flopper who abuses dogs) it will all be over.
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