My wife and I’s very good friend, LJ (queeniemart – sorry, not a clickable link here as is my custom – hers is a private journal) left a comment in my entry A LOOK AT SENATOR MCCAIN giving me an idea for an entry that I had been thinking about anyway. Her comment may have been a reflection of what some people are thinking about in light of the big issue made out of how many houses Senator McCain owns.
When I heard all the hub-bub about a reply to an interview question by Senator McCain from POLITICO on August 20th. The question was how many houses he and his wife, Cindy, owned. Senator McCain’s response was, “I think – I’ll have my staff get back to you.” With this, here came the Democrats, making a big issue out of it. The same old class envy thing that the liberal left has been trying for years and years, and have actually been successful in dividing America this way. I was never jealous of wealthy people. Just for the record, I’m not a wealthy man (unless you use former President Bill Clinton’s definition of “rich”, then anything over about $20,000 a year was rich – my taxes sure went through the roof on this one and that’s about how much I was earning at the time).
Anyway, my first take on this was the desperation of the Democratic party, “snatching at straws”, because they know the Obama campaign is in trouble. Even the acknowledged in an article (the AP logo is a clickable link) on their website on August 22, 2008 there is a “perception” that the Obama campaign has stalled. I have been doing some reading on several sites, including CNN that shows Obama continuing to lose ground. Many Hillary supporters interviewed after the announcement of SENATOR JOE BIDEN as Obama’s running mate yesterday have said they are not voting for Obama. Obama also seems to be losing votes as voters hear more and more of his extreme radical views. Even Senator Biden himself, just last year, said he did not believe that Obama was ready for the Presidency, and it was not a job that lent itself to on-the-job training. Senator Biden continued that he (Senator Biden) would be honored to run with or against Senator McCain, and the country would be better off. Here’s the video:
Getting back to the house non-issue. My question is, what did a question like this have anything in the world to do with running the Presidency? What does how much property or how much wealth ANY President has, Democrat, Republican, or otherwise, have to do with how that President deals with China? Russia? Iran? Do you think Iranian President ManINeedAJob really cares? Absolutely not! It doesn’t have anything to do with anything. I saw an article over the weekend that I wish now I had bookmarked so I could reference it here that was entitled, “McCain’s Rich”. If time had permitted, I would have left a very short comment: “News Flash: SO IS OBAMA!”
This brings me to the point of all of this. Such nitpicking is petty and an obvious move of desperation to try to revive Obama’s campaign. What everyone needs to remember is this: ALL WASHINGTON POLITICIANS ARE VERY WEALTHY PEOPLE. They have to be in order to run for the office in the first place. As we all know, Congress has it’s own “honey tree” complete with a very nice income of $169,300 per year to start, and a SWEET retirement plan they pay NOTHING into – sweet for them that is, not for us taxpayers. So, when Obama points his finger at McCain as being “rich”, Obama ain’t exactly a poor man himself.
The Democrats are in serious trouble overall with what originally was to be a “Democrat sweep” this November. According to the latest ZOGBY POLL, Congress’s approval rating has dropped from a recent 14% to 9%. That is absolutely the lowest approval rating in history for any Congress. Zogby also found that voters are not only angry at Congress, they are angry at THEIR OWN CONGRESSMEN/WOMEN. This is not the norm. Even when America is angry with Congress, people normally still like their own Senators and Representatives.
To close, a couple of quotes to show you how much trouble the Obama campaign is in. LEON PANETTA, former White House Chief of Staff to Bill Clinton, said recently about Obama, “I don’t like the way this is going. He’s gotta get tougher out there.” And there’s JOE KLEIN, with TIME MAGAZINE, a liberal magazine, “Where’s the passion, Obama? Can’t you say something that makes us feel like you care about it?”
One last thought, if I ever run for public office, and somebody asks me a question like that, I don’t think I’ll be as tactful as Senator McCain. My answer, as a common sense middle class candidate, would be this: “That has nothing to do with my ability to run the office, and it’s none of your business. Next question.”
Don't make me come up there!
Thanks LJ for reading and your comments! I really appreciate it!
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11 comments:
Hi Dirk! For me, the issue isn't how rich either candidate is. There has been full disclosure of their incomes (although Mrs. McCain's fortune wasn't included in Sen. McCain's), and yes, Sen. Obama is apparently a millionaire due to his book sales. But when it comes to running for public office, there is no such thing as "None of your business."
The issue to me is that Sen. McCain is trying to portray Sen. Obama as an "elitist," when Sen. Obama actually comes from humbler beginnings and isn't even close to the multi-millionaire status of the McCains. As Ken and I were talking today, he told me that he recently read that Joe Biden is solidly middle class--UPPER middle class, but not a millionaire.
And I really DO have to wonder how someone cannot know exactly how many homes they have. If you don't know how many you have, maybe that's one too many homes!
All my best,
Beth
http://journals.aol.com/luvrte66/nutwoodjunction/
I sit here and attempt to figure out how my husband and i will pay for a car repair to keep my 20 yr old car running so i can get to work this week....i sit and attempt to try not to worry myself sick because tomorrow a plumber is coming to fix a hot water issue that is haunting my entire household and this person charges $129 an hour.
SO...gee, well, the fact that it IS an issue that McCain can not even tell a person how MANY homes he owns. I do not feel it is a private matter..i believe if these men or women want my vote and will want to lead my country they are going to answer some questions and asking how many freaking HOUSES you own is not like asking the last time the person had sex. It IS a valid question. I do know that probably 100% of all politicians that McCain's level do not have a CLUE what it is like for the working class, AKA ME, to try to find enough money to pay my bills, my taxes, for gas, for food, for utilities and emergencies that come about. But i damn well hope they at LEAST can try to empathize if they are going to be the one making decisions for me and my family for the next 4 to 8 yrs.
Great post, Dirk.
Tom Schuckman
Oh DIrk, I agree! When I first heard the hoopla, I'm like- who cares?!!! They're all rich, and personally I don't care that their all rich. I think it's great that they;re all rich! I'm not rich, and I begrudge no one for it! This is the land of opportunity~ some of us don't quite make it all the time, but still- it's not the point! The point is America is great and our congeress and other billionaires prove it with their wealth! It's how they handle it, what they do with it is what matters. I'll have to look into McCain's charitable contributions. I know for a FACT that Obama made over 400 000 last year, and gave about 1% to charity. I love the fact McCain has a bunch of houses- it shows that capitalism works! You wouldn't see so many "rich" people if commies are elected. Anyway I think I've said my point ;-) God Bless you Dirk! Have a wonderful week! Carolyn
Admiral
sheesh!
nat
McCain has said that he has indeed been poor for a long time in his youth.
He doesn't like to complain though.
His father was an Admirla in the Navy and hey that's not big money.
He is a veteran and he does work for many veterans. His condos are the sort of timeshare dwellings.
Obama grew up in Hawaii; not really my idea of a sad place to grow up. His mom did support him and a single mom that is very admirable. He id have some sacrifices ot make and so id McCain. It is admirable that he made them and that he put himself through college. It is admirable that his wife did the same and that they ahve done community service.
natalie
Dirk: You might be interested the Church/Politics quiz just released by Christianity Today's Leadership Journal.
http://thatbaptistaintright.blogspot.com/2008/08/church-politics-quiz.html
After some days of dealing with family problems I finally got to this entry and found it interesting and provocative I also watched the brief message from McCain on Youtube. I refer you to the entry I wrote this morning under the picture Walking on Water, which was talking in general about watching the democratic convention, etc, and I went into the abortion question with my doubts about both candidates. I am from Arizona and McCain has been here a long time. I am also uploading a video on the population explosion vs Pro Life Part 1 and 2. I will let you know when I embed them in my journal. I appreciate getting an e-mail on what you are addressing in your journal, as I think these entries will be of great interest as the campaign heats up. Gerry
I totally agree. A person's wealth should have very little if anything to do with how qualified they are for any position.
Lisa
Does anyone really want a president that hasn't been successful in running his own life and finances? People who tend to gravitate toward power and politics are also people who tend to strive to attain in any area they enter. Regardless of their class, their race or their party. - bArbara
Great entry, personally it didn't bother me in the least he didn't know how many houses they owned. No big deal to me. Had he lied and said 4..or whatever, they would have jumped all over that too. It is a no win situation either way but surely shouldn't be a relevant issue.
Lisa
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