Obama doesn't let up on McCain's homes
Posted: Thursday, August 21, 2008 2:34 PM by Mark Murray
Filed Under:
Economy
From NBC/NJ's Athena Jones
CHESTER, VA -- In another effort to show that McCain doesn't get middle-class concerns, Obama joked about the interview his rival gave yesterday in which the Arizona senator could not recall the number of houses he owns.
Obama, who is fighting to win over voters that are struggling economically, has consistently sought to show that he would be a better steward of the economy than his GOP rival. In nearly every speech in recent days, he has argued that McCain doesn’t get what ordinary American are facing, reminding people of McCain advisor Phil Gramm’s comment about America being a “nation of whiners” and about McCain’s Saddleback quip defining rich as an income of $5 million.
“Yesterday, [McCain] was asked again, what do you think about the economy? He says, Well, I think the economy is fundamentally strong; said the economy is fundamentally strong,” he told a crowd of about 250 people.
The presumptive Democratic nominee said he had been puzzled by the remark until he heard about an interview in which McCain asked the publication to check with his staff on the number of homes he owned.
“So they asked his staff and he said, at least four. At least four. Now think about that. I guess if you think that being rich means you gotta 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 is fundamentally strong!” he said incredulously. “But if you’re like me and you’ve got one house or you were like the millions of people who are struggling right now to keep up with their mortgage so that they don’t lose their home, you might have a different perspective.”
“There’s just a fundamental gap of understanding between John McCain’s world and what people are going through every single day here in America,” Obama continued. “You don’t have to be a Nobel Prize laureate economist. You just have to have a little bit of a sense of what ordinary people are going through to understand that we can’t afford eight more years or four more years or one more year of the same failed economic policies that George Bush has put in place.”
He mentioned McCain’s homes two more times briefly during the event and his campaign has already created a TV ad based on the comments.
Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine, who was an early endorser of Obama and is reportedly on the short list of potential running mates, introduced the senator. He called Obama a unifier who would bring change and said it would be risky to elect McCain during these tough economic times.
“One of the things I’ve heard that makes me laugh the most is some who would suggest that a vote for the senator might be risky,” he said. “Let me tell you want risk is. When the economy, the inflation number in June is the highest it’s been in 27 years, the unemployment rate jacking back up, energy prices where they are, deficit. When the economy is that front and center thing that all Americans are so concerned about right now, to put someone in the White House who says I don’t know much about the economy that is risky, folks. That’s what Sen. McCain said and that’s risky.”
Kaine met for about 15 minutes with Obama at the senator's hotel in Richmond this morning and rode with him to the event.
