John McCain: Is He a Financial Elitist? And Does It Really Matter?
August 21, 2008 by Miranda Marquit
Filed under Finance
One of the big flaps of the John McCain campaign was his recent ignorance regarding how many homes he owns. After doing his best to paint Barack Obama as an elitist (for some reason, we as Americans really, really hate it when people are “elite”), it turns out that John McCain is pretty elitist himself.
The Washington Post has this quote from the Obama campaign regarding John McCain and his homes:
“The fact that John McCain can’t keep track of how many houses he owns is a telling moment that helps explain why he thinks ‘the fundamentals of our economy are strong’ and why he’s just offering more of the same economic policies that we’ve gotten from President Bush for the last eight years,” said Sen. Barack Obama spokesman’s, Hari Sevugan.
Really, his wife technically owns the bulk of the property, but the fact remains that he is certainly reaping the benefits of the good life. Americans care about that sort of thing.
After all, part of the reason that George W. Bush got elected was because he presented himself as someone that “you could have a beer with.” It didn’t matter that he was filthy rich, a Yale man or that he had been living it up — because of the image he presented. So, with the economy front and center, and with people looking at their personal finances, the elitist image raises it’s head again. Only this time it’s not about preferred alcoholic beverages, perceived intellectualism or being a down home kind of guy.
It’s all about who can better sympathize with the financial plight of the ordinary American.
But what makes one a financial elitist? Is there a number that you pass in terms of dollars that makes you “rich”? (There’s an interesting discussion about this at AllFinancialMatters.) Or is being rich merely a state of being, in which you have enough for your needs, many of your wants and some left over to provide for the future?
The other question you have to ask yourself, in terms of your individual financial situation, is this: Who will better understand your personal finances? Both of the presumptive presidential candidates are probably wealthier than you in terms of net worth. It goes without saying that neither can probably really relate to your financial situation.
But, do you think that one of them has a better grasp of the situation and what can be done to help the economy?
image credit: U.S. government
I don’t really know who exactly will be better for my finances, but i’m all for Obama anyways :) Yeah he’s not as experienced, and yeah he’s a big talker, but damn if he’s not positive and uplifting! I think that’s what we need in society these days…
that is all, my political talk is over ;) It’ll be interested to see either way it goes though – and let’s just hope our dollars are safe!
Thanks for sharing Budgets! I’m voting for Obama as well. Mainly because his policies are most likely to help the middle class, which I believe is better for the economy as whole. I don’t agree with the idea of a second stimulus check, and I think “windfall” taxes on Big Oil are a bad idea. But I do like the idea of getting rid of the subsidies that Big Oil (and Big Ag and others) enjoy, as well as limiting pork barrel spending. And I think that Obama is right on the money with his plans to spur job creation through improving our crumbling infrastructure and encouraging alternative energy development.
:) He’s also a freakin’ genius when it comes to marketing and getting the younger generation excited about it all!
Not sure if you’ve already done it, or even heard of it, but you should text the word “VP” to 62262 on your cell phone and it will register you to be one of the first to know who Obama’s VP is going to be.
They are telling the phone subscribers FIRST, before any other media outlets…although, they are probably signed up to it as well ;)
Yeah. That is pretty cool. I am signed up to hear about it. I also follow his campaign on Twitter. Although I think they should send text messages to remind the youth to vote. While many of them are excited, we’re just the demo that doesn’t go to the polls on election day (although I, personally, have never missed a chance to vote).
I don’t really mind either one of them having acquired assets. Really, the point of concern is which candidate cares about the financial well-being of others.
An interesting view, g_fox. I like how you point out that it is more important to consider how people care about each other — although many people would call that thought socialist in nature when applied to our economy, taxes and other financial issues.