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This Time, Hard To Sell McCain as “A Regular Guy” |
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In 2000, the media and a lot of other Americans bought into the idea that the multimillionaire son of a president and grandson of a senator, educated at elite schools, was the kind of regular guy you’d like to have a beer with (even if Bush is an alcoholic…small detail).
In 2008, there has been a laughable effort to paint Barack Obama, raised in less than affluent circumstances by a single parent, a man who took out loans to go to school, and the first African-American with a real chance to be elected president, as an out of touch elitist. That simply won’t work this time. The Republican nominee, John McCain, comes from privileged beginnings, married a beer heiress, and is divorced from the real world experience of most Americans.Â
Newsweek presents the latest evidence of McCain’s elite out-of-touch perch–a trust his wife oversees failed to pay taxes on a property in La Jolla, CA. Four years of tax notices went unanswered.
As Newsweek puts it, “when you’re poor, it can be hard to pay the bills. When you’re rich, it’s hard to keep track of all the bills that need paying.” The McCains are so wealthy and own or manage so much property, that they can literally lose track of all their holdings and obligations.
I don’t think the McCain as regular guy thing will work. That doesn’t leave him with a lot to work with–I’d wish him luck if the stakes weren’t so high.
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I don’t want to sound elitist, but I think the average voter doesn’t even do enough homework to realize that Bush and McCain are sons of wealth and privilige and that Obama is from much more humble beginnings.
Most Americans vote more or less on what they have seen on TV ads (why do you the think the candidates spend so much money on them?). Therefore, if the ad guys can successfully portray McCain as an average Joe, the public in general will buy it.
you may very well be right Jim–my feeling is that I will do everything I can to tell the truth. a TV ad certainly reaches more people than I can, but I will keep arguing against false portrayals until I’m blue in the face! speaking of which, I just saw a piece in the Politico that matter-of-factly calls McCain a “maverick” as if this were an undisputed fact
The stunning revelation for me in this article was that the La Jolla beach house is one of SEVEN homes owned by the McCains. Seven! But it’s the Democrats that are elitist. . . riiiiight.
People have got to hear the the self-made stories of some of our Democratic stars contrasted with the legacy wealth of so many Republicans.
So, along with McSame and the Arizona Asshole, I think I will now also call the Republican nominee John “seven homes” McCain.
I like it! and looking forward to a video at the Dem convention making clear Obama is no elitist by telling the story of his upbringing (I hope we will see something like this…)