McCain Owns 13 Cars; Obama Owns One (SLIDESHOW)

Newsweek has a story up comparing the number of cars owned by the presidential candidates. It's not even close. And certainly, it doesn't provide the type of man-of-the-people image that John McCain's handlers want to present in the current economic crisis.

As the magazine reports: "When you have seven homes, that's a lot of garages to fill. After the fuss over the number of residences owned by the two presidential nominees, NEWSWEEK looked into the candidates' cars. And based on public vehicle-registration records, here's the score. John and Cindy McCain: 13. Barack and Michelle Obama: one."

Here's a slideshow of the vehicles in the McCain family's garage (pay special attention to the bubbly little 2000 NEV Gem electric vehicles -- gotta love those buggers).

• • • • • • • • • • • When you have seven homes, that is a lot of garages to fill. Based on public vehicle-registration records, Newsweek found that John and Cindy McCain own 13 vehicles. Barack and Michelle Obama have one.

As for Obama, he and Michelle own a 2008 Ford Escape hybrid.

Comments

[zull2]

I have a very hard time believing that his VW, Honda, and Toyota were actually American cars in disguise. Maybe one or two of them were assembled here, but when McCain said that all his cars were American cars, that smacks me as a bit of a lie. After all, when you have a car imported from Germany, you probably have a good idea that you paid to have it imported.

That said, I'm horribly unimpressed by his taste in cars. The Willy's Jeep looks like it could be a great museum addition, though. It's good he stocked up on the retirement golf carts, though, he's certainly going to need them pretty soon.

[Lloydsworld]

To zull2 Honda, Toyota have plants right here in the good old usa and the american parts are assembled by american hands so yes I would call them american made automobiles.

[mike42nola]

Even the GM automobiles are made in Canada and Mexico. Most replacement auto parts are made in Mexico, Korea or China. There really is no such thing as a 100% American automobile with the exception of the design aspect of the cars.

[CaptainStormfield]

Yes, Honda and Toyota have assembly plants here in the USA.
It appears the Japanese want to put jobs here. American corporations want to send them to China.
Go figure.

[Brute]

Barack's FATHER was reported to be a goat-keeper from Kenya - but I think it was Barack's grandfather who apparently had enough goats to send his son (Barack's father) from Africa to the U of Hawaii.

Barack's stepfather, LoLo Soetero, took his new wife Ann and Barack to Jakarta during political chaos (see "The Year of Living Dangerously") and some have cited both Barack's bio father and stepfather as leftist (Marxist) activists.

Barack's mother has been described as naive and a free-spirited beatnik (who found the dough to get a PHD). She is praised as a single parent after divorcing two men in 6 years, then sending her son Barack to Honolulu to be raised by her mother who was a bank vice president.

Barack attended the elite Punahou prep school, which costs around $17,000 today for elementary school. Barack says that Hawaii was very diverse and that he didn't face Jim Crow racism.

Shrum said today on "Meet the Press" that Michelle and Barack just finished paying their school loans - hard to believe considering Michelle's $300K salary and corporate board position.

If you think that Barack is a phoenix arising from the ashes of American disadvantage, think again. He is a product of privilege. It is no surprise that he would stand in a multi-million dollar house in SF and talk about the bitter small town Americans who turn to guns, religion and antipathy.

[mamiel]

Barak's biofather and stepfather were probably informed by Marxism. Do you know the history of developing nations and post-colonialism? most any person in the 60's coming from a post-colonial developing nation who was any kind of advocate for their people was informed by Marxism. I went to Africa in the 80's many of the countries I visited were "Marxist".

So it was wrong for Barak to attend a prep school? Poor people in your world aren't allowed to get a scholarship and go to good schools?

My sister and her husband have a very high income, both went to law school. Their student loans will not be paid off for many, many years. I find nothing at all suspect about that. If you make 300k a year and have 300k in school loans it's going to take time to pay down.

Barak's grandmother was not a bank vice-president and she was continually passed over for promotions due to sex discrimination. It was considered shameful in her generation to have to be the wage earner of the family but she was forced into that position because Barak's grandfather was never successful financially. It caused resentment in their relationship

Barak's mother "found enough dough" to get a Phd? Do you know how a Phd works? The Phd candidate GETS paid, not the other way around. A Phd candidate teaches undergrad classes for a salary. It is a low salary but enough to get by generally.

[winfie6]

You have said absolutely nothing

[LettuceB1]

Ha..Ha.. and the son and grandson of admirals, who has been collecting a pay check on the government's dime since the day he left school is down to earth? Some how Mc C a i n who graduated 5th from the bottom of his class should be praised for his accomplishments!

Yes, BO's grandmother was VP of a bank after working her way up from being their secretary.

Yes, BO and his mother got a very good education. They're called scholarships. Something your candidate isn't smart enough to earn and has voted against giving vets (GI Bill) who have proudly served this country.

You seem to have issues with people who work hard and make it. You should talk to someone about that.

I'm sure there was a point to your ramblings but since you didn't make it...
Thanks but no thanks for your point to nowhere!

[arvad]

"Thanks but no thanks for your point to nowhere!"

That is so funny. Good for you. Isn't it strange to have to argue that hard work, intelligence, and ability are GOOD things?

[LancetheLibertarian]

Yes, both McCain and Obama are from privilege. One spent years earning his American status while SERVING his country. The other studied the tired old drivel of Marx and Engels taught at Ivy league schools and community activized with ACORN and damning America on Sunday by Rev. Wright.

However, we should overlook this because he's such a gifted public speaker who can say a lot without ever saying anything.

[hairball68]

seeing as your president has borrowed billions of dollars from communist China so that he can have his war and you can have your tax break, you should have absolutely no problem with communism should you?

[mike42nola]

Isn't he our President?

[MrBlu]

I didn't know growing on food stamps and being raised by your grandparents because your mother has to work and your father left the nest was considered coming from a "privileged" background. If that's the case I'm royalty because I didn't grow up on food stamps (although I didn't grow up eating caviar and weekending on a yacht).

I'll bet you a million dollars that you're White making a comment about Obama going to Harvard and tying that to what kind of person he is. Either that or a really angry "brotha" that's just jealous that he got a chance to do what millions of White guys and girls have done for decades: attend one of the most prestigious schools in the country. Why can't he just be educated? I bet you this, if you or someone you knew was in court for a violent or serious charge you'd want a Harvard Law graduate to be on your side.

If you're going to slam Obama do it on the issues. Talking about him being an elitist lets everyone know that you don't have a real position to stand on and that you're a racist, fascist piece of [insert expletive].

[Maggie0507]

Does John McCain have any issue to run on other than he was a POW? Seriously - I admire anyone who endured what he endured, BUT IT DOES NOT QUALIFY YOU TO BE PRESIDENT! He was in the bottom of his class at the Academy for god's sake! He slid in to the Naval Academy on his father and grandfather's coat tails. Obama was raised in a single parent home, got scholarships to attend college and made the most of it graduating from Harvard. I don't think you can call someone an elitist just because they're smart. But I do think you can call someone an elitist if they dump their crippled wife for a millionaire heiress, owns 7 houses and has absolutely no idea what is going on with the economy because he's able to pay his bills!

[mike42nola]

Being a past POW doesn't qualify him in the least to become President nor does being 5th from last in his graduating class at Annapolis disqualify him. That is the great thing about this country. There are lots of people that qualify for that job, technically.
Obama being raised in a single parent family also doesn't qualify nor disqualify him. Being smart doesn't make him an elitist. How he chooses to use that intelligence and how he views people that cling to guns and religion does make him an elitist.
He does not fit in with the populist program and is a politician that believes he knows best what we want as a people when he is not in contact with regular people.

[Ray46]

Having only one car for a family of four with 2 graduates of Harvard seems very unusual if not outright strange. It's not the 1950's anymore where 1 car was enough for both parents. They might consider getting a second car even though they are probably driven everywhere by the secret service.

[Shzron1946]

No worries, Brute, the Secret Service doesn't have nearly as much of a chore shutting down the
freeway since so many more people's jobs have been shipped off shore and now, not only do they not have a reason to be on the road, they cannot afford the gas!

[sammy50]

Who wants to vote for a two Harvard Law grad family that can afford only one car?

The retired teacher next door has 2.

If he does this with his budget think of what he wld do with the
US budget.

[Redrover666]

LOL! Very good!

[sammy50]

You are so jealous of successful people.

[Redrover666]

LOL!
Successful?! The commenter is right. The Obama household has two Harvard degrees and can't figure out how to budget two cars?

[sammy50]

LOL! You got that correct!

[JBS]

Or perhaps they're smarter than both of you, and have figured a way they don't need the expense of two cars.

[sammy50]

Don't think so, boy!

[jackiecee]

You get em Sammy50! RedRover666 needs a life-all he apparently all day is sit at a computer and make WEIRDO comments about much of nothing-he thinks everything else is a "tard"- he's a freaking John McPlane wannabe!

[Redrover666]

LMAO! sammy50 is agreeing with me!

I'm retire sparky. What's your excuse?

[Redrover666]

LOL! You freakin goof!

[jackiecee]

Sarah Palin can't speak correctly so I guess they're even!

[Zork4]

He will manage the budget a lot better than George "double the national debt" Bush. He can afford any number of cars. He chooses not to have more. That attitude will serve America better than the Debt and Spend Republicans whose loose credit approach led people to buy stuff with money lent to America by the Chinese (1.3 Trillion). Obama's book has done well so he's wealthy now, but he worked for years for not a lot and has modest tastes compared to Cindy and John McCain. And anyway, the Obamas started with nothing, McCain dumped his wife to marry an heiress who didn't make that fortune, her dad did. The Obama story is a story of success from humble beginnings

[marbiol]

hopw do they commute// is michelle still working in IL??? Does Sen. Obama take the metro to work?? Inquiring minds want to know!!!

....and the mccains need to to trash those 'lectric scars....we know that they dont drive 'em (maybe the hired help does!!)--they're just there fior the campaign...for show!!!

[Redrover666]

Obama worked? Where?

He went to exclusive schools and graduated from Harvard law.
What do you consider "humble beginnings"?

[Brute]

Elite private school in Hawaii?

Raised by his grandmother who was a bank vice president?

Harvard?

Scholarships?

1.5 million dollar house in Hyde Park with a 600 bottle wine cellar?

$300,000 "discount" on the same home?

I wish I had it so tough.

[vaygun]

I went to an "elite" private school for a few years while my mother was single, going to school, and living off student loans.
How did we do it? Scholarships, food banks, and hand-me-downs.

Why don't more people call out McCain on HIS elitism?

[hairball68]

read.

[11Xray]

Obama flies from state to state; not in a plane...he actually FLIES! He is magic and that is how he flies. He doesn't have to use his powers to fly, he does it not because he is elite, but because he cares about the environment. His magic powers have no harmful emissions. He is also a magical dancer; there are rumors that he can dance for days on end, and while he is dancing the national debt disappears! At the same time as the national debt and the tax revenue load go DOWN, entitlements and benefits go UP! Because his dance is THAT MAGICAL! Also his magic is polyglot; it extends to other cultures and nations! Because all other nations love us, they want him to be elected! Especially our enemies! Even Hamas and that skeery guy in Iran want Obama to be our magical leader! They were entranced by his MAGICAL DANCE! He can also speak to our pets and understands the babbling of small children; I don't mean merely short children, I mean even babies. Obama also has magic amongst The Luminaries! Even Sean Penn likes him! He magically causes Keith Olberman to sing, wonderfully babbling songs! And his magic causes Chris Matthews leg to unexplicably tingle...and it isn't a hoax, science has investigated this and there is no known reason for his leg to tingle like that...science threw up its hands and proclaimed "this is MAGIC!"

[Redrover666]

LOL!

[hairball68]

"Some people call you the elite. I call you my base."
-George W. Bush

[Redrover666]

What do you suppose Obama was calling those folks that were paying $28.5K to have dinner with him?

[Syymone]

You sound a bit envious of Obama,but then again so does McCain.Honestly there is no way a man who has a wife worth atleast 100,000,000 should be calling anyone elitest. Honestly I feel the term "elitest" is just a cover term for those who have issues with the audacity of a man "like Obama" who decided he was qualified to run for President of The United States of America......

[MTGradwell]

"Elitist" is just a codeword. There is a codeword that has become standard in this sort of case, "Canadian", and there's another one that was used with great effect in the last election, "French", but neither could be used on Obama because they would have interfered with attempts to portray him as Kenyan. "Exotic" was tried for a while - and what else could you call a man who visits his family, in a US state, during vacation time rather than going abroad? But it didn't stick. There's lots of other words that could have been used but, in accordance with the Rovian playbook, a word had to be chosen which didn't describe Obama at all but which (as you noticed) would handily describe his opponent. So, "elitist" it had to be.

[pgurlatl]

McCain thinks his dirty little past is buried. I don't think so.

http://www.wmsa.net/People/john_mccain/david_icke.htm

Spread the word!

Read about the true origins of Cindy McCain's inheritance!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jim_Hensley

[Timothy-Robert]

sometimes, thinking about a Mccain future, or even just watching him speak... it just makes my head want to explode.

[Redrover666]

If you tell your doctor about it he will give you a referral to a nice man who will talk to you and give you some pills to take that will help a lot.

[j.gold]

Redrover666 -You must know this from experience.

[Redrover666]

I'm a grownup, sparky.

[rfshunt]

Apparently, the right of passage to adulthood involves using the word "sparky" at every opportunity.

[Redrover666]

True, particularly if you're me, sport.

[rfshunt]

O.K., by me, jethro.

Hey, did you see that the AP poll you've been talking about all night doesn't say what you claimed it said at all.

Thought you'd want to know.

[Redrover666]

Sparky, I understand that you can make it say whatever you want it to say. Thanks.

[Laserbeam]

I am reading comment after comment from McSame supporters who seem to have the same basic gist to every "argument": Obama is an elitist.

I'm sorry, but you're going to have to do better than that. Try just a teensy bit of intelligence and logic. I mean, you;re absolutely pathetic. Stop acting like kindergartners.

Obama speaks on the issues; McSame doesn't. Biden wrote the Violence Against Women Act; Palin charged rape victims for their rape kits while Mayorof Wasilla. (This, incidentally, was something she planned and carried out - not some little budget thing she didn't know about.)

OK, you can start formulating your thought-out responses to those.

[Brute]

I generally spend my vacations in an exclusive, private Hawaiian compound/resort. My "down to earth", "blue collar" friends usually pony up $10,000 for a couple of watered down drinks with umbrellas in them to hear me pontificate about how wonderful I am.

Not elitist.


According to a pool report distributed by the campaign, the Democratic nominee left his Kailua vacation rental to attend a private reception and fund-raiser at the Kahala Hotel & Resort.

Obama took the stage with his wife, Michelle, and took notice of many friends and classmates from the elite Panahou private school he attended growing up. “I’ve got friends here who have just been lifelong friends, people who have seen me through thick and thin, in tough times and in good times,” Obama said.

Local organizers said an estimated 500 people attended the fund-raiser. Tickets were $2,300 per person and $10,000 for a VIP reception.

[JNagarya]

One can always spot a liberal media: it reports the negative facts the Republicans want suppressed.

Go get 'em, McSame! Piss the media off so much they finally let up on suppressing the negatives about you!

[berrycooda]

WHO CARES..... It just shows that McCain isn't in it for the money....He has plenty already.

I hope they count how many shirts he has next so we can see who has the most.

[JNagarya]

Those who care are those who know the REAL meaning of "elitist":

McSame owns 10 houses. Obama owns one.

McSame owns 13 cars. Obama owns one.

Who's is the elitist?

According to liars, it is Obama.

[margardner]

He doesn't need the money, but he sure needs his ego massaged!
He is in this for power!

[LAThinker]

The number of cars is not an issue - the issue is who helped to set our economy on fire

http://www.ucubd.com/Index.aspx?id=738&cid=3147

[Brute]

Not conspicuous consumption, materialism or elitist? I normally spend $10,000 for dinner after I pay for the flight and accommodations in SWITZERLAND. Wow, imagine how many starving Africans would love to make 10K in an entire lifetime.

George Clooney is set to host a fundraiser for Barack Obama in Switzerland next month.
The event, taking place on the evening of September 2 in Geneva, Switzerland will be split into two parts: a reception and a dinner. According to Obama’s National Finance Committee, tickets for the reception where Clooney will speak are going for $1,000, followed by a dinner at the home of NFC member Charles Adams for $10,000 a plate. Space for the dinner is limited to 75 guests. - CNN

[Donnybroke]

Why don't you ask BO's half-brother in Africa what he thinks of a $10k dinner:

"The Italian edition of Vanity Fair said that it had found George Hussein Onyango Obama living in a hut in a ramshackle town of Huruma on the outskirts of Nairobi.

Mr Obama, 26, the youngest of the presidential candidate's half-brothers, spoke for the first time about his life, which could not be more different than that of the Democratic contender.

"No-one knows who I am," he told the magazine, before claiming: "I live here on less than a dollar a month."

[JNagarya]

Why don't you, in view of the fact you're so obessed with the irrelevant non-issue race.

[Donnybroke]

Hey, JackoffNagarya, get a life

[11Xray]

Wasn't it Obama telling us how we had to be 'our brothers keepers'? If this is how he keeps his brother, I think I'll pass. I could live in a hut on my own!

[MTGradwell]

There you go, why pretend that Barack is elitist when it's so obvious that George is the real elitist of the Obama family? If having one car and one house and having only recently paid off one's tuition fees using money that was actually earned through ones own efforts is elitist, and having thirteen cars and ten or so houses and more than a hundred million unearned dollars and authoring the bills which further enrich the similarly gifted at the expense of everyone else isn't elitist, then obviously living in a hut in a ramshackle town on less than a dollar a month is the very pinnacle of elitism.

[JNagarya]

Nowhere near the $28,0000 per plate McSame undraisers.

[Apple8]

It is called a fundraiser you crazy person! Going to a dinner to fund your local Women's Shelter is going to cost a lot more than your regular dinner but because it is going to a good cause and if you have a boat load of money to share, you do it. Mother of God! What about FUNDRAISER do you not understand?

[uthink]

This is too stupid and has already been debunked. On a side note I have 4 cars and two of those are for children to help them out. So what is the issue with parents helping out there children.

[JNagarya]

Mcsame has 13 cars in order to help out his children?

He has 13 children?

By how many different women?

[jackiecee]

Your reference to there is actually spelled T-H-E-I-R-WOW THIS IS ALMOST LIKE MS SARAH'S pronunciation of NUCLEAR (NOT NUCULUR)

[uthink]

This is to stupid and has already be debunked. On a side note I have 4 cars and two of those are in my childrens to help them out. So what is the issue with parents helping out there children.

[YellowDogInRedCounty]

Where children? There children!