Mccains Money on The Huffington Post

Tim Dickinson: McCain Still Wistful for "Charlie Keating's Shangri-la"

2008-10-06T13:43:24Z

I write about John McCain's shady dealings with the felonious financier Charlie Keating in this section of Rolling Stone's current cover story -- which includes Charlie Keating's bald declaration that he was, indeed, buying favors from the politicians whose war chests he larded.

But there's quite a bit more about their relationship that comes from McCain himself, in his memoir Worth the Fighting For.

McCain's account is replete with details of unrepentant entanglements and top-dollar favors that would make Jack Abramoff blush.

McCain and Keating were much more than "social friends" as McCain's lawyer said on a conference call today. They were political business partners.

Charlie Keating, his family and associates donated over $100,000 for my first campaign, and for each of the two that followed. That was a hell of a lot of money in those days.... Supporters like Charlie were not easy to come by for a first-time candidate, and I made damn sure that he knew how much I appreciated his support.

More important, I became friends with Charlie, his family, and many of the top executives and employees of his company. [pp. 59]

And...

He was as close to the archetype of the high-flying eighties chief executive as anyone I had encountered, and he was a hell of a lot of fun to be around.

On several occasions, he invited Cindy and me to his beautiful vacation retreat at Cat Cay in the Bahamas, flying us there, with our infant daughter, Meghan, and her nanny, on his private jet....

He entertained us lavishly, as was his style. We would all crowd on his yacht, off for a day of swimming and snorkeling, and then return for another extravagant party with the best wine, food, and entertainment available...

I would be lying if I were to deny... just how eagerly I awaited invitations to Charlie Keating's Shangri-la. [pp. 60]

Jerry and Joe Long: McCain Urges American Men to Marry Their Richest Mistress

2008-10-06T12:07:36Z

Bayonne, NJ - In an effort to deal with rapidly worsening economic conditions, John McCain called on cheating husbands to follow his example of tactical remarriage. Speaking in a dimly lit pickup joint to a crowd of self-described horndogs, McCain urged married men to "find a skirt what's got cabbage".

McCain went on to say that while he always enjoyed "knockin knees with any tomato" during his first marriage, he ultimately decided to leave his wife after an auto accident "86ed her gams". McCain cautioned however that men should stay with their current spouse "if she's holdin dough".

McCain, who married the multimillionaire beer heiress Cindy Hensley after a whirlwind extramarital affair, told the crowd how fortunate he was that "she's easy on the eyes and sloppin over with simoleons from giggle water".

Sources close to the McCain campaign admit being troubled by the Senator's use of slightly dated lingo which some bar patrons born after 1940 might find difficult to decipher. Though campaign lobbyist/strategist Rick Davis quickly added that "the story of John McCain's personal life is the story of relentless self-absorption that lies at the heart of the American dream".

Ari Berman: McCain's Kremlin Connections

2008-10-06T10:54:14Z

With the McCain campaign attacking Barack Obama for his flimsy ties to reformed Weatherman Bill Ayers, it seems especially relevant now to highlight McCain's questionable relationship with his embattled campaign manager, Rick Davis, and Davis' controversial clients. As Mark Ames and I report in a new article in The Nation, "McCain's Kremlin Ties," Davis worked to advance to the interests of Russian proxies in Eastern Europe and powerful oligarchs tied to Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, with McCain lending a helping hand.

Over the course of the presidential campaign, John McCain has repeatedly emphasized his willingness to stand up to Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin as proof that only he possesses the fortitude and judgment to become the next leader of the free world. In his acceptance speech at the Republican convention, McCain lashed out at Putin and the Russian oligarchs, who, "rich with oil wealth and corrupt with power...[are] reassembling the old Russian Empire." McCain rushed to publicly support the Georgian republic during its recent conflict with Russia and amplified his threat to expel Moscow from the G-8 club of major powers. His running mate, Sarah Palin, suggested in her first major interview that the United States might have to go to war with Russia one day in order to protect Georgia--the kind of apocalyptic scenario the United States avoided during the cold war.

Yet despite McCain's tough talk, behind the scenes his top advisers have cultivated deep ties with Russia's oligarchy--indeed, they have promoted the Kremlin's geopolitical and economic interests, as well as some of its most unsavory business figures, through greedy cynicism and geopolitical stupor. The most notable example is the tale of how McCain and his campaign manager, Rick Davis, advanced what became a key victory for the Kremlin: gaining control over the small but strategically important country of Montenegro.

According to two former senior US diplomats who served in the Balkans, Davis and his lobbying firm, Davis Manafort, received several million dollars to help run Montenegro's independence referendum campaign of 2006. The terms of the agreement were never disclosed to the public, but top Montenegrin officials told the US diplomats that Davis's work was underwritten by powerful Russian business interests connected to the Kremlin and operating in Montenegro. Neither Davis nor the McCain campaign responded to repeated requests for comment. (Davis's extensive lobbying work, especially on behalf of collapsed mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, has already attracted critical media scrutiny.)

Read the full story here.
Read more: Russia, McCain Campaign, McCain's Money, Rick Davis, Rick Davis Russia, John McCain, Rick Davis Kremlin, 2008 Election, Politics News

Julia Goldberg: Radio Station Questions Political Ads

2008-09-18T18:19:52Z

On Monday, Sept. 15, the McCain campaign began running ads, nearly every hour, on Santa Fe, New Mexico radio station KBAC (98.1 FM) .
So Ira Gordon, operations manager for Hutton Broadcasting (which runs KBAC along with several other local stations) began running an editorial directly after the ads. The focus of the editorial?
Don't believe political advertising.
I'm kind of loving Ira Gordon right now.
His editorial begins by noting that the station has to run political ads regardless of their truthfulness (under federal law). Gordon then goes on to say:
"This election is not about race, gender, age, terrorist fist bumps, cookie recipes, Muslin attire, church pastors, flip flops, lipstick or pigs." Rather, he notes, the election is about "high gasoline prices, a sinking economy, the war in Iraq, the lack of support for our military vets, global climate change and pollution, corporate greed, the 1 percent getting richer and the poor being ignored."
Better off than you were eight years ago, Gordon says, then you can only be one person: the CEO of Halliburton.
Gordon tells me that he also ran an editorial in 2004 when the Bush campaign ran ads on KBAC.
"My feeling was political advertising in the long run is full of shit,* so without mentioning Democrats, Republicans or the candidates' names, I wanted to alert our listeners to the fact that they shouldn't believe political advertising. They should delve into the issues decide who represents them the best," he says.
While Gordon says his editorial in '04 prompted daily arguments with Republican listeners, so far he's had no complaints about his current opinion piece.
On the other hand, Gordon acknowledges KBAC's GOP-listener base is probably rather small.
"I get kind of a perverse enjoyment out of the fact that Bush and McCain are wasting their money by advertising on KBAC, which obviously they're not going to sway many of our listeners over to our side.

* I should mention that Gordon asked me to rephrase "full of shit" to something more appropriate, but I couldn't think of anything more appropriate.
** If you can't hear the editorial here, you can access it at swingstateofmind.com

Paul Peete: McCain: For Sale To The Highest Donors

2008-09-15T03:32:15Z

The perception of Senator John McCain as a champion against wasteful government spending and his oft repeated stand against earmarks has fed his reputation as a Republican willing to go against the establishment. He and vice presidential pick Alaska Governor Sarah Palin claim that they will change the culture of Washington if elected. But an examination of John McCain's senatorial career reveals a politician for sale to the highest bidder. All of the items listed in this post are culled from the pages of reputable mainstream publications and, despite the denial by McCain and his staff of wrongdoing in each case, there is an undeniable connection between contributions and legislation or political intervention on donor's behalf. John McCain is a master of the quid pro quo.

McCain supported The Reform Institute, a Virginia based think tank that, as The Chicago Tribune noted, is a sham used to collect contributions from those its reports and Congressional testimony favor. McCain campaign operative Rick Davis is prominent in the Institute's collection efforts.

"In 2003 and 2004, a telecommunications company with business before the McCain-led Senate Commerce Committee contributed a total of $200,000 to the institute. The contributions were solicited by Rick Davis, a veteran Washington lobbyist who was president of the institute from 2003 through 2005 and who is now McCain's campaign manager."

The press has covered each item cited herein, yet when viewed together they show a pattern of behavior that draws a portrait of Sen. McCain as a man for sale to the highest bidder. Beginning with the earliest scandal in his career and continued abuse of his office even while campaigning this year, despite his claim that the Keating scandal chastened him, the facts tell the story.

George Bush's 2000 campaign released information about John and Cindy McCain and her father's profiting from his long association with Charles Keating. Slate Magazine's Chris Suellentrop article titled Is John McCain a Crook? laid out the information leaked to the press.

"But Keating was more than a constituent to McCain--he was a longtime friend and associate. McCain met Keating in 1981 at a Navy League dinner in Arizona where McCain was the speaker. Keating was a former naval aviator himself, and the two men became friends. Keating raised money for McCain's two congressional campaigns in 1982 and 1984, and for McCain's 1986 Senate bid. By 1987, McCain campaigns had received $112,000 from Keating, his relatives, and his employees--the most received by any of the Keating Five. (Keating raised a total of $300,000 for the five senators.)

After McCain's election to the House in 1982, he and his family made at least nine trips at Keating's expense, three of which were to Keating's Bahamas retreat. McCain did not disclose the trips (as he was required to under House rules) until the scandal broke in 1989. At that point, he paid Keating $13,433 for the flights.

And in April 1986, one year before the meeting with the regulators, McCain's wife, Cindy, and her father invested $359,100 in a Keating strip mall."

The list of his campaign donors for McCain's 2008 campaign reveals that current Keating Law firm attorneys have become bundlers. While this is legal it argues for poor judgment on McCain's part to accept money from a firm he has in the past had dealings with resulting in his censure by the Senate. Another aspect of McCain's poor judgment is his selection of Phil Gramm as his economic "brain", the man who brought about market deregulation, which has led to the current Mortgage and Wall Street woes.

Here is a collection of examples of the Senator's dealings that led to my conclusion about the nature of Sen. McCain. Clicking on the cited publications can reference the complete articles.
The NewYork Times reported the connection of a long time campaign contributor and McCain's work on his behalf.

"A longtime political patron, Mr. Diamond is one of the elite fund-raisers Mr. McCain's current presidential campaign calls Innovators, having raised more than $250,000 so far ... In California, the McCain aide's assistance with the Army helped Mr. Diamond complete a purchase in 1999 that he soon turned over for a $20 million profit. And Mr. McCain's letter of recommendation reinforced Mr. Diamond's selling point about his McCain connections as he pursued -- and won in 2005 -- a potentially much more lucrative deal to develop a resort hotel and luxury housing."

A Washington Post story reveals more of his quid pro quos.

"Initially reluctant to support the swap, the Arizona Republican became a key figure in pushing the deal through Congress after the rancher and his partners hired lobbyists that included McCain's 1992 Senate campaign manager, two of his former Senate staff members (one of whom has returned as his chief of staff), and an Arizona insider who was a major McCain donor and is now bundling campaign checks.

When McCain's legislation passed in November 2005, the ranch owner gave the job of building as many as 12,000 homes to SunCor Development, a firm in Tempe, Ariz., run by Steven A. Betts, a longtime McCain supporter who has raised more than $100,000 for the presumptive Republican nominee. Betts said he and McCain never discussed the deal."

We heard McCain support the Georgian government in its battle against Russia, going so far as to send his wife to the country. Here is proof that his foreign policy advisor profited handsomely from McCain's connection to Georgian President Saakashvilli, despite McCain's denial of a quid pro quo. The Washington Post establishes the timely contract Randy Scheunemann signed and Sen. McCain's prior public statement of support.

"Sen. John McCain's top foreign policy adviser prepped his boss for an April 17 phone call with the president of Georgia and then helped the presumptive Republican presidential nominee prepare a strong statement of support for the fledgling republic.

The day of the call, a lobbying firm partly owned by the adviser, Randy Scheunemann, signed a $200,000 contract to continue providing strategic advice to the Georgian government in Washington."

MOJO:

McCain's Support for Honest Contracting Costs Jobs

The story of how John McCain backed a European-based plane maker named EADS over American-based Boeing for a $35 billion Pentagon contract to make air tankers is swirling around the internet. Additional juice for the story comes from the fact that McCain was richly rewarded by EADS for his actions in the form of campaign contributions, and the fact that a handful of McCain campaign staffers are current or former EADS lobbyists ("They never lobbied him related to the issues," said a spokesperson).

Time Magazine shows the connection of McCain's staff members had in the deal. How can he claim to be in tune with the American worker? In a time of domestic economic unraveling McCain sent $35 billion overseas while the American economy is struggling and jobs are in short supply. Thanks to Defense Secretary Gates the contract was rescinded.

At the Republican convention the attendees would erupt into chants of drill here drill now whenever a speaker mentioned oil, but I wonder if they would be as enthusiastic if they knew the following information. AOL News, a subsidiary of Time Warner, reported the timely connection of oil industry donations and McCain's sudden energy drilling switch.

"Oil and gas industry executives and employees donated $1.1 million to McCain last month -- three-quarters of which came after his June 16 speech calling for an end to the ban -- compared with $116,000 in March, $283,000 in April and $208,000 in May.
..."The timing was significant," said David Donnelly, the national campaigns director of the Public Campaign Action Fund, a nonpartisan campaign finance reform group that conducted the analysis of McCain's oil industry contributions. "This is a case study of how a candidate can change a policy position in the interest of raising money."

Since the Republican Convention, where Sen. John McCain proclaimed that he and vice presidential candidate Gov. Sarah Palin are the true mavericks, the press has focused on Gov. Palin and disparities between her rhetoric on the stump and her record; focus on McCain has been largely absent. A CNN Special Edition segment on McCain failed to cover any of these Main Stream Media accounts of his questionable dealings on behalf of his donors. When is the media going to get to the business of reporting on the record of McCain? I hope that the answer is not after the November 4th election.

Janet Ritz: John McCain: Campaign Lobbyist in Chief

2008-09-07T22:05:01Z

John McCain's attempted co-opt of the Obama campaign's change message avoids the fact that McCain has surrounded himself with a campaign staff of top Washington Republican lobbyists:

When McCain huddled with his closest advisers at his rustic Arizona cabin last weekend to map out his presidential campaign, virtually every one was part of the Washington lobbying culture he has long decried. His campaign manager, Rick Davis, co-founded a lobbying firm whose clients have included Verizon and SBC Telecommunications. His chief political adviser, Charles R. Black Jr., is chairman of one of Washington's lobbying powerhouses, BKSH and Associates, which has represented AT&T, Alcoa, JPMorgan and U.S. Airways. Senior advisers Steve Schmidt and Mark McKinnon work for firms that have lobbied for Land O' Lakes, UST Public Affairs, Dell and Fannie Mae.

And this from the Washington Post :

Sen. John McCain's top foreign policy adviser prepped his boss for an April 17 phone call with the president of Georgia and then helped the presumptive Republican presidential nominee prepare a strong statement of support for the fledgling republic. The day of the call, a lobbying firm partly owned by the adviser, Randy Scheunemann, signed a $200,000 contract to continue providing strategic advice to the Georgian government in Washington.

A look at McCain past and present campaign advisers/lobbyists' (partial) client lists:

Charlie Black, chief campaign advisor who stated that another terrorist attack on U.S. soil "certainly it would be a big advantage to him [McCain];" lobbied for Occidental Petroleum, Chevron Texaco, Philip Morris, Thales Group, Yukos Oil, Lockheed Martin, Blackwater, Ferdinand Marcos, Zaire dictator, Mobuto Sese Seko, Angola Rebel, Jonas Savimbi and Iraqi, Ahmad Chalabi.

Rick Davis, campaign manager: Verizon, SBC Communications.

Steve Schmidt, chief campaign strategist and Karl Rove's protege, worked for Dick Cheney and: "Steve Schmidt, the new man in day-to-day charge of the McCain presidential campaign, stoutly defended his lobbying and PR firm's hiring of Tim Griffin, a former prosecutor who figured in the U.S. attorneys firing scandal."

Nancy Pfotenhauer, campaign spokeswoman: Lobbied for Koch Industries

Koch Industries Is The Secret Dirty Energy King. With $90 billion in annual sales, Koch Industries is the largest privately owned company in the United States. Begun in 1940 as an oil refining business by Fred Koch, his company -- now controlled by sons David and Charles Koch -- has diversified into "refining and chemicals; process and pollution control equipment and technologies; minerals and fertilizer; fibers and polymers; commodity and financial trading and services; and forest and consumer products" -- a global warming pollution factory. [Forbes, 2007]

Randy Scheunemann, foreign policy adviser: Lobbied for the Republic of Georgia.

Republican presidential nominee John McCain told USA TODAY on Sunday that he has no problem with his top foreign policy adviser Randy Scheunemann's past lobbying work. [snip] Scheunemann and others at the think tank wrote to President Bush nine days after the 9/11 attacks, urging "a determined effort to remove Saddam Hussein from power in Iraq." Scheunemann founded a group called the Committee for the Liberation of Iraq during the run-up to the March 2003 invasion.

Phil Gramm, past economic adviser (thrown under the bus, then let back in...), sponsored the Enron Loophole legislation, stated: "you've heard of mental depression; this is a mental recession," and "We have sort of become a nation of whiners."

Frank Donatelli: Lobbied for Exxon Mobil:

McCain tapped lobbyist Frank Donatelli to become deputy chairman of the Republican National Committee. The New York Times reported Donatelli will "act as the main liaison between the committee and the McCain campaign." Donatelli is a lobbyist at McGuire Woods and previously served as a lobbyist at Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld. His clients have included AT&T, Exxon Mobil, PhRMA, Blue Cross Blue Shield and Verizon. [New York Times, 3/7/08]

Kevin Fay, McCain fundraiser, lobbied for "Former Bangladeshi prime minister Sheikh Hasina was arrested at her Dhaka home and taken to a local court, her party said. It ws not clear on what charges Hasina was detained, but she had faced allegations of extortion and murder charges stemming from political violence last year." [Washington Post, 7/16/07]

Wayne Berman, National Finance Co-Chairman. Chevron Texaco, AIG, the American Petroleum Institute, AmeriChoice, AT&T, the NRA, Reliant Energy, Verizon and Visa.

The list goes on.

As for McCain's new vice presidential pick, foisted on the American people with too little time to thoroughly vet her connections, she doesn't get off clean either. During her gubernatorial run, Palin's campaign ads were paid for by the RGA, the Washington-based Republican Governor's Association, funded, primarily, by Jack Abramoff's firm.

McCain may say he wants to be our Commander in Chief.

Right now, he is his campaign's Chief of Republican Lobbyists.

More on this topic at THE ENVIRONMENTALIST

John K. Wilson: If You're John McCain, You Might Be A Rich Guy

2008-08-22T11:42:48Z

With apologies to Jeff Foxworthy (no, wait, he should be apologizing to all of us for that lame redneck schtick):

If you can't count how many homes you have, you might be a rich guy.

If you think it takes $5 million a year to be rich, you might be a rich guy.

If you think some people "are poor if they're billionaires," you might be a rich guy.

If you have a fireplace next to the outdoor spa in one of your mansions, you might be a rich guy.

If your plan to cut taxes on the wealthy would save your family $373,429 a year, you might be a rich guy.

If you dumped your first wife to have an affair with a wealthy heiress, you might be(come) a rich guy.

If you fly around with a lobbyist on corporate jets while doing favors for her client, you might be a rich guy.

If you wear $520 loafers, you might be a rich guy.

If your annual expenses for servants are five times the median income per person in America, you might be a rich guy.

If you refer to your 6-acre Sedona lakeside estate, worth more than one million dollars and complete with a large home, a guest house, and the house next door, as a "cabin," you might be a rich guy.

If you think that no American would pick lettuce for $50 an hour, you might be a rich guy.

If you fly around on your wife's corporate jet for free, you might be a rich guy.

If you think that big corporations need $200 billion in tax giveaways, you might be a rich guy.

If you think inheritance taxes on multi-millionaires need to be cut by 67%, you might be a rich guy.

If you think being given a vice president's job at your father-in-law's beer company is an accomplishment, you might be a rich guy.

If you and your wife are worth well over $100 million, you might be a rich guy.

If you think selling junk on eBay is how Americans can avoid poverty, you might be a rich guy.

If you think it's normal to take a free trip to Charles Keating's opulent Bahamas retreat and get $112,000 in campaign donations in exchange for meeting with federal regulators on Keating's behalf, you might be a rich guy.

Crossposted at DailyKos and ObamaPolitics.

Existential Realty? McCain Camp Says House Attack Is An Attack On Cindy

2008-08-21T18:18:12Z

Though McCain is widely perceived to to drawn first blood by attacking Obama's character, the official said that the difference between Obama's mocking McCain for his wealth and his shaky answer on the number of homes he owns was that McCain's charge "reflects an existential reality," where Obama's charges "attack Cindy. She owns the homes. I thought he said the wives were off-limits."

Mitchell Bard: August 21, 2008: The Day John McCain's Campaign Died

2008-08-21T16:37:15Z

No, unfortunately, I don't think that John McCain's campaign is really over. But there has been an amazing confluence of events in the last 24 hours that have undermined every key basis of McCain's campaign, so much so that it is hard to see how anyone who is not an extreme right-wing Republican could even consider voting for him. If McCain survives the last 24 hours, I'm not sure what it will take to stop him. You start to wonder if he could drop his pants in the middle of a town hall and still suffer no consequences.

Just think, in the last 24 hours:

Iraq
McCain has made Iraq and national security the center of his campaign. He has unabashedly flaunted his support of the war in Iraq, and he has repeatedly suggested that Barack Obama does not have the judgment necessary to be president because, among other things, he supports timetables for the withdrawal of American troops from the country. He has accused Obama of trying to "legislate" defeat.

Well, first, in July, Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki said that a timetable for withdrawing U.S. troops from Iraq was necessary, seriously undermining the whole Bush-McCain strategy for staying in Iraq. McCain brushed off Maliki's remarks as the Iraqi prime minister just playing politics, not expressing his true beliefs.

But now McCain's biggest nightmare has come true. Today we find out that Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice appeared with the Iraqi foreign minister to announce that the two countries have agreed that a timetable should be set for the withdrawal of U.S. troops.

McCain now stands alone. After all his criticisms of Obama's judgment on this issue, the Iraqis and even the Bush administration have now been forced to concede that a timetable for withdrawal is necessary (essentially adopting Obama's long-held position). McCain's criticisms have blown up in his face. Anyone paying attention would have to laugh off his claims now that his judgment on Iraq is superior to Obama's (especially considering that Obama opposed the war, while McCain told Americans it would be an easy victory, we would be greeted as liberators, and we would only be faced with a short engagement).

Afghanistan
Throughout the campaign, Obama has hammered home the point that the real war on terror is based in Afghanistan, and that more troops were needed there to secure the country. In July, McCain mocked Obama's position, calling him naive and premature. Again, McCain used Obama's plan as an example of his lack of judgment.

McCain also had maintained that the war in Iraq was not affecting the ability of the U.S. to send a sufficient amount of troops to Afghanistan, something that was directly contradicted in early July by Michael G. Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, when he said, "I don't have troops I can reach for, brigades I can reach, to send into Afghanistan until I have a reduced requirement in Iraq. Afghanistan has been and remains an economy-of-force campaign, which by definition means we need more forces there."

Mullen's repudiation of McCain's position didn't knock him off his high horse, but yesterday's actions by the Pentagon sealed McCain's fate on this issue. The military announced (quietly, with little media coverage) that 11,000 soldiers would be sent to Afghanistan.

Once again, Obama took a position, McCain mocked him and claimed it showed bad judgment, and then, ultimately, Obama's stance was proven to be correct and was adopted. What can McCain say now?

How Many Houses?
Moving from the substantively important to America's obsession with silliness, when John Kerry was photographed windsurfing during the 2004 campaign, he cemented his image with voters of being an upper-class elitist, out of touch with the day-to-day lives of the common folks. The judgment wasn't based on policies, since Kerry's positions were unquestionably more in tune with those of the average blue collar worker than the stands taken by George W. Bush. But in our image-is-everything culture, the photo resonated with many voters, confirming that Kerry was not one of them. (The need for a candidate to be "average" is insane, but that's a discussion for a different article.)

Yesterday, McCain had his windsurfing moment. When asked how many houses he and his wife owned, McCain said he didn't know and would have to check with his staffers. After the McCain campaign said the answer was at least four, Obama later happily pointed out that, in fact, the McCains had seven homes. If McCain's remark last week at Rick Warren's values forum about $5 million being the threshold for being "rich" (watch for yourself here) didn't sink the idea of McCain as a "man of the people," then not knowing how many houses he owns should put McCain's regular guy status over the edge. Maybe once and for all people will realize that McCain is a man of extreme wealth. To borrow the famous Seinfeld phrase, "not that there's anything wrong with it," but being rich is not the image the McCain campaign likes to project for its candidate.

Can you imagine if Obama ever said he didn't know how many homes he owned? He would be done. This should be McCain's windsurfing moment. Let's see if the media and the public treat McCain the way they treated Kerry.

The Draft
Yesterday, a woman in a town hall meeting in New Mexico, after a long list of thoughts, said that she didn't see a way to go after Osama bin Laden without reinstating the draft. McCain responded by saying, "I don't disagree with anything you said." (Watch for yourself here.)

Clearly, such a policy would not be popular with a huge percentage of young people and parents. Maybe McCain really is in favor of bringing back the draft, and maybe he is not. If he's called on it, I'm sure he'll try to dodge the issue and deny that he even said it (after all, he never suffers consequences for his lies, so why should he stop?).

But for a presidential candidate to say that he "doesn't disagree" with reinstating the draft is a major gaffe. Again, if Obama made such a statement, it would be all but game over for his campaign. Let's see if McCain survives it.

All and all, not a banner day for McCain's ambitions (yes, he has them) for the White House.

There is no doubt that McCain's candidacy has been on an upswing, and recent Rasmussen polls have shown him gaining in key battleground states like New Hampshire. But by every measurement, the last 24 hours should be devastating to the McCain campaign. He has been undermined and proven wrong (and worse, Obama has been proven correct) on his bedrock issue of national security, specifically in Iraq and Afghanistan; he has exposed himself to the electorate as wealthy and out of touch; and he has advocated for, of all things, reinstating the draft. If McCain survives the last day, I fear it means that voters, for whatever reason, don't want to hear the truth about John McCain.

Is today the day that McCain's campaign dies? It should be. Let's see if it is.

McCain: Leave My Many Homes Alone!

2008-08-21T13:12:17Z

Senator John McCain is frequently depicted as the sort of frustrated old man who would yell at kids to "Get Off My Lawn!" But this is unfair. There are probably kids standing safely on his lawn this very moment, because McCain owns so many homes that he cannot possibly guard all of them at once.

McCain's collection of manses and luxe condos became a sore spot for him after he was asked how many homes he owns, and finding that the helpful Joe Lieberman was not on hand to whisper the one-to-two digit number that is the answer into his ear, said, "I think -- I'll have my staff get to you." This provided comedy gold to the Obama campaign, who had for months seemed not to understand that one is allowed to criticize one's opponent.

But McCain hit back by pointing out that Obama lived in Chicago's RezkoDome, where the Weather Underground frolic, and there are such elitist features such as hot AND cold running water. And who can even keep track of how many homes McCain has anyway? Different people in this Politico article say he has four, six, and seven homes! Isn't the point here that if you multiply the number of McCain homes by the zero homes I own, you get zero homes?

And who would begrudge the reluctant war hero his real estate? Well, I sort of would, when he says cockamamie nonsense like this:

"I define rich in other ways besides income...Some people are wealthy and rich in their lives and their children and their ability to educate them. Others are poor if they're billionaires."

And that's Saint John McCain scratching a CROSS IN THE DIRT for a NATION OF WHINERS. Still, if I had to be poor, I'd have to guess that the "billionaire" option would be pretty awesome. I'm guessing McCain could relate!

David Sirota: McCain Campaign Cites America's Richest County As Proof Trade/Econ Policies Are Working

2008-08-21T12:45:14Z

FYI - As part of the Campaign for America's Future's new weekly Trade Report, we caught this snippet from Virgina. Yes, that's right, the McCain campaign is citing the wealthiest county in America as proof that the government's economic and trade policies are working well - and it is a perfect symbol of just how out-of-touch the Royalist Right really is:

WHITE HOUSE '08 - GOP CITES RICHEST COUNTY IN AMERICA AS PROOF ECONOMY IS GREAT

The Roanoke Times reports that as Barack Obama convened a discussion about unfair trade policies in economically ravaged regions of Virginia, the national Republican Party countered by citing Fairfax County as proof the economy is doing just fine. "It doesn't take a lot of courage to go to Martinsville and talk about trade," said U.S. Rep. Tom Davis (R) said in a Tuesday conference call arranged by McCain's campaign. "What would be courageous is to come to Fairfax County, where you have 362 foreign-owned companies and tens of thousands of employees with foreign-owned firms...and take the same stand up here."

Besides the tone deafness of holding up foreign-owned firms as proof of a solid domestic economy, Davis forgot to mention that according to Forbes magazine, Fairfax County has long been the wealthiest county in the United States - a place where the median (the median!) household income is over $100,000 a year. The county is home to many of the millionaire corporate lobbyists that have been instrumental in the passage of rigged trade deals.

Davis citing Fairfax County today as proof that trade policies are working for the vast majority of the country would be like Herbert Hoover citing the Rockefeller family as proof that the economy was working for most Americans during the Great Depression.

Read the whole Trade Report here.

Read more: Economy, McCain's Money, Politics News

Bill Barol: "But I am reasonably certain, my friends, that I own exactly sixteen Patek Philippe watches."

2008-08-21T11:46:53Z

If you're looking for a good, concrete example of a guy who's right in touch with the aspirations of ordinary Americans you'd be hard-pressed to top a guy who isn't sure how many houses he owns. I mean, isn't that The American Dream right there -- to own so many houses that you can't even count them? Now, I know what you're thinking. You're thinking: Gosh, this is a cheap shot. After all, according to Jonathan Martin and Mike Allen of Politico, the actual number is quite low, as numbers go: Four. (Newsweek says seven; a group called Progressive Accountability pegs it at a nice, round 10.).) You wouldn't zetz a guy for owning four pairs of pants, or four neckties, or (as McCain does) four platinum-plated rocketcars. "And hey," you protest further, "some of those properties aren't houses at all. They're condos, for crying out loud, and barely big enough to house McCain's enormous collection of ruby-encrusted cashboxes." And this is true, as far as it goes, although this kind of thinking fails to take into account that each of the small, modest condos sits on vast reserves of natural oil and gas, which McCain and wife Cindy use to set ablaze the million-dollar bills with which they light their smuggled Cuban cigars. But never mind that. All I'm saying is, McCain isn't really so out of touch that he doesn't even know how many houses he owns. On that score, you can relax. Because the truth is much, much less damning than that. The truth is that he does know, but he's so ancient he can't remember. There. Feel better now?

Cross posted at billbarol.tumblr.com.

Obama Tears Into McCain For Houses Remark

2008-08-21T11:45:30Z

Barack Obama lashed into John McCain during a campaign stop in Virginia on Thursday, ridiculing the presumptive Republican nominee for being painfully out of touch on the economy and not even knowing how many houses he owns.

"Yesterday, [John McCain] was asked again what do you think about the economy, he said I think the economy is fundamentally strong," said Obama. "Now this puzzled me. I was confused what he meant. But then there was another interview where somebody asked John McCain how many houses do you have and he said 'I'm not sure. I'll have to check with my staff.' True quote. 'I'm not sure ill have to check with my staff.' So they asked his staff and they said, 'at least four.' At least four. Now think about that. I guess if you think that being rich means you make $5 million and if you don't know how many houses you have then it is not surprising that you think the economy is fundamentally strong. But if you are like me and you've got one house, or if you are like the millions of people struggling now to keep up with your mortgage payments, you might have a different perspective. By the way the answer is John McCain has seven homes."

Obama's remarks come just hours after McCain admitted, during an interview with Politico, that he wasn't sure of the extent of properties he owned. Democrats have, for the majority of Thursday morning, been champing at the bit, viewing the admission as a golden opportunity to paint the Arizona Senator as a rich elitist. And Obama certainly took the cue.

"There is just a fundamental gap of understanding between John McCain's world and what people are going through every single day here in America and you don't have to be a Nobel Prize laureate economist," he summarized. "You just have to have a little bit of sense to understand that we cannot go through the same eight years of the failed economic policies that George Bush has put in place."

The McCain campaign clearly sees an area of vulnerability, throwing a kitchen sink of personal attacks at Obama to counteract his charge.

"Does a guy who made more than $4 million last year, just got back from vacation on a private beach in Hawaii and bought his own million-dollar mansion with the help of a convicted felon really want to get into a debate about houses?" wrote spokesman Brian Rogers. "Does a guy who worries about the price of arugula and thinks regular people "cling" to guns and religion in the face of economic hardship really want to have a debate about who's in touch with regular Americans?"

The elbows, indeed, have been sharpened. And the Obama camp smells blood. As the candidate was speaking, his campaign put out a scathing new ad on the McCain-house gaffe that aides said would go on national cable:

"It's seven," the spot says of the number of homes McCain owns. "Seven houses. And here's one house America can't afford to let John McCain move into." The screen pans to the White House.

During Thursday's speech, which was preceded by an introduction from Virginia governor and possible VP candidate Tim Kaine, Obama hammered home the economic populist theme even further. Again playing off a McCain gaffe, he chastised his opponent both for the policies he pursued and company he kept.

"Some of you saw the Saddleback Forum where [John McCain] was asked what was rich and he said 'I don't know maybe if you make $5 million, $5 million then you are rich,' which I guess means if you are only making $3 million a year you are middle class," said Obama. "I guess that's what he meant. His top economic adviser said the other day that Americans should stop complaining, that they've become a nation of whiners, that all these economic policies we are talking about is a mental recession. That if you just changed your mind you would be ok...."

UPDATE: Obama is really going all in on this issue. The campaign emails that it will be sending supporters to "battleground states across the country" to host events in front of houses to illustrate "how out of touch Senator McCain is." Among the big events being scheduled include:

DES MOINES, IA: Kansas Governor, Kathleen Sebelius campaigns in Des Moines this afternoon where she will discuss McCain losing track of how many homes he owns

OH: Tennessee Governor Phil Bredesen will talk about McCain losing track of how many homes he owns at events throughout southeast Ohio

In addition, some of the Obama state organizations are launching "a statewide search to find [voters] who, like John McCain, have so many homes that they just can't keep track of the number." Should be fun, or funny. This will be taking place in Pennsylvania, Florida, and North Carolina, among other states.

McCain Doesn't Remember How Many Houses He Owns

2008-08-21T09:32:32Z

John McCain said in an interview with Politico on Wednesday "that he was uncertain how many houses he and his wife, Cindy, own."

"I think -- I'll have my staff get to you," McCain said. "It's condominiums where -- I'll have them get to you."

The answer, according to the group Progressive Accountability, is an even 10 homes, ranches, condos, and lofts, together worth a combined estimated $13,823,269.

John and Cindy McCain own a plethora of houses spread throughout the United States, including: two beachfront condos in Coronado, California, condo in La Jolla, California, a two-unit condominium complex in Phoenix, Arizona, three ranch houses located outside of Sedona, Arizona, a high-rise condo in Arlington, Virginia, a rental loft, and, according to GQ, a loft they bought for their daughter, Meghan.

As Politico notes, McCain's comments are a serious potential gaffe, as they dovetail with an increasingly aggressive effort to paint the GOP nominee as wildly out of touch on economic issues.

In recent weeks, Democrats have stepped up their effort to caricature McCain as living an outlandishly rich lifestyle -- a bit of payback to the GOP for portraying Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) as an elitist, and for turning the spotlight in 2004 on the five homes owned by Sen. John F. Kerry (D-Mass.) and his wife, Teresa Heinz Kerry.

Pro-Obama labor groups have sent out mailers highlighting McCain's wealth, and prominent Democrats have included references to it in comments to reporters.

Twice in the past two weeks, those Democrats have focused on McCain's houses.

Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) told Politico's Ben Smith that it was McCain "who wears $500 shoes, has six houses and comes from one of the richest families in his state."

And David Axelrod, Obama's chief strategist, referred in an interview with Adam Nagourney of The New York Times to an imagined meeting of McCain strategists "on the portico of the McCain estate in Sedona -- or maybe in one of his six other houses."

McCain's comments came four days after he initially told Pastor Rick Warren during a faith forum on Sunday his threshold for considering someone rich is $5 million -- a careless comment he quickly corrected.

UPDATE: The Obama campaign is letting out all the stops in its response, with immediate comments from Obama on the stump in Virginia, an new ad (see below), and actions by its top surrogates hammering McCain around the country.

UPDATE: Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine piles on:

Obama V.P. prospect and Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine mocked Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., on Thursday for not knowing exactly how many houses he owns.

"I understand that Sen. McCain was asked yesterday this question, 'how many houses do you own?,' and he couldn't answer that question. He couldn't count high enough, apparently, to even know how many houses he owns," said Kaine.

Here's the video, titled McCain's Mansions, released last week by Brave New Films and SEIU:

DNC Hits McCain For $5 Million Remark, Day After Obama

2008-08-18T23:25:38Z

Democratic operatives were quick to jump on the one major McCain slip up from Saturday's Saddleback forum: the off-the-cuff remark that $5 million was the line of demarcation for distinguishing the rich.

On Monday, Barack Obama had a sharp attack line at his disposal, painting his Republican opponent as out of touch on modern economics.

"Maybe he was joking," said the Senator, before adding that, under McCain's definition, those making under $3 million would be "middle class."

On Tuesday, the Democratic National Committee followed suit, releasing a highly personalized web ad criticizing McCain on the matter. Titled "Five Million," the spot paints the presumptive Republican nominee as not just blissfully unaware of what constitutes wealth but an out-of-touch elitist in his own right. For good measure, the DNC threw in a clip of McCain's former top economic adviser, ex-Sen. Phil Gramm, calling America a nation of whiners.

The spot, like all of these web ads, will have an impact only to the extent that it gets free media coverage. And this one may lack the defining charge or image (like the McCain campaign mocking Obama as a self-delusional Moses) to allow it to go viral. But it's worth reporting strictly because McCain's $5 million remark -- which he almost instantaneously predicted his opponents would use to make electoral hay - has now founds its way into a succession of political attacks. Perhaps more is in the offing.

Cindy McCain's Half-Sister Ignored, Cut Out Of Family

2008-08-18T18:18:19Z

Last Tuesday, NPR broadcast a story about Cindy McCain's business and charity work. In it, Ted Robbins described McCain as the only child of Jim Hensley, a wealthy Arizona businessman. The next morning, NPR received an e-mail from Nicholas Portalski of Phoenix, who heard the story with his mother.

"We were listening to the piece about Cindy McCain on NPR, All Things Considered, and it just struck us very hard," Portalski said.

His mother, Kathleen Hensley Portalski, is also Hensley's daughter.

McCain's Former Estate Exposed By Inside Edition (VIDEO)

2008-08-18T14:36:49Z

Hot on the heels of Brave New Films' exposé of John McCain's many homes comes an Inside Edition report on he and Cindy McCain's swanky former estate -- completed with an MC engraved over the fireplace. Watch:

McCain Critics Continue To Attack His Wealth

2008-08-15T09:37:55Z

The drawback of John McCain's attack on Barack Obama's "elitism": it makes his own wealth fair game.

For the second time in as many days, critics of the Arizona Republican are using his riches against him. Brave New Films, headed by documentarian Robert Greenwald, released a short on Friday morning called "McCain's Mansions: The Real Elitist."

Click To Play

The film, while a bit long in length for traditional political fare, is absolutely brutal. Interspersed with testimony from a woman who suffered through foreclosure, the film highlights both the $36.5 million to (potentially) $100 million in assets McCain shares with his wife and the several plush, multi-million-dollar houses his family owns.

The video comes a day after the AFL-CIO similarly used McCain's wealth as fodder for a political attack. The union distributed fliers on Thursday pointing out, among other things, the 10 houses and $520 Italian loafers the Senator owns.

Big Union Launches Populist Attack On McCain's Wealth

2008-08-14T10:06:55Z

In a move that signals a major new effort to woo elderly voters to Obama, the AFL-CIO is dropping a scorching new mailer in battleground states hammering John McCain on Social Security and directly referencing McCain's wealth, his corporate jet, and his expensive Italian shoes.

"McCain's worth over $100 million," reads the mailer, which we obtained in advance of its public release. "He owns 10 houses...he flies around on a $12.6 million corporate jet...he walks around in $520 Italian loafers."

"If John McCain lost his social security, he'd get by just fine," the mailer continues. "Would you?"

Tour One Of John McCain's Houses! (PHOTOS)

2008-08-12T12:52:57Z

The exact number of houses owned by the McCains is a hard number to pin down --some sources say eight to ten, some say it may be more than that-- but in 2005 the McCains opened the doors to one of them for an interview with Architectural Digest. Some of the photos can be seen below. The McCains may have sold the house since the interview.

For the complete slideshow, click here.

Isabel Wilkinson: A Week In John McCain's Shoes — His $520 Ferragamo Loafers, That Is

2008-07-30T07:52:54Z

This summer John McCain is traveling in style. He has worn a pair of $520 black leather Ferragamo shoes on every recent campaign stop — from a news conference with the Dalai Lama to a supermarket visit in Bethlehem, PA. The Calfskin loafers, with silver-tone "Gancini" buckles, are imported from Italy.

In response to Barack Obama's foreign tour, McCain spent much of his energy last week emphasizing his focus on domestic issues. What better way to show his American pride than to tour the country in Italian leather?

Arriving in the loafers at Bakersfield, CA

Detail of above photo

Salvatore Ferragamo 'Pregiato' Moccasin [Neiman Marcus]

Below, the many occasions on which John McCain has sported his $520 Italian leather loafers:

Photos courtesy AP

Update: Watch CNN report on this post below:

McCain Owes Over $1 Million In Credit Card Debt

2008-07-21T13:12:33Z

The John McCain campaign owes American Express $1.37 million in credit card debt and fees, according to Federal Election Commission filings.

A memo from the Democratic National Committee mocked the number, claiming "the campaign is taking its cues from the McCain's personal finances."

In June the McCain's reported more than $100,000 in personal credit card debt. Reports on Cindy McCain's personal finances have shown the beer heiress has charged as much as $500,000 in one month on an American Express card.

How Much Could The McCains Make From Anheuser-Busch Co. Sale?

2008-07-14T18:13:13Z

As the Wall Street Journal reported today, the McCains stand to receive a "huge payout" should they cash out in the aftermath of today's sale of Anheuser-Busch Co., the makers of Budweiser beer:

McCain, the heiress to the third-largest Anheuser distributor, owns at a minimum $1 million in the American company, according to John McCain's Senate financial disclosure forms, which don't offer any more information for large assets held by his spouse. Under the deal, she and other stockholders will get a cash payout for the stock, which is owned through her company, Hensley and Co.

But how huge a payout? Despite the limited amount of financial disclosure provided thus far, there are some other clues.

In 2006, Cindy McCain reported $283,240 in earnings from ordinary dividends on her tax return, separate from capital gains.

According to AOL, Anheuser-Busch awarded $1.13 in dividends per share over the course of that same tax year. Assuming, for the purpose of this exercise, that all of Mrs. McCain's ordinary dividend income came from Anheuser-Busch stock in 2006. Based on her tax return, that would mean she held 250,654 shares of the company.

Again, assuming she sold off no stock in the interim -- and that she didn't buy up any more after rumors of the company's sale started to spread -- we can get a rough idea of what the company's sale could be worth to the McCain family. Drum roll ...

If Cindy were to sell off the 2006-era number of shares, as estimated above, at today's $70 price, she would make $17,545,780.

Cindy McCain: "In Arizona The Only Way To Get Around The State Is By Small Private Plane" (VIDEO)

2008-07-14T17:52:02Z

Cindy McCain recently gave a rare private interview to CNN in which she disclosed her opinions on transportation in Arizona, her home state. The McCains have tried to distance themselves from elitism, but apparently Mrs. McCain believes that the only way to get around is by "small private plane."

[WATCH]

Related: CNN interview with Cindy McCain

McCains To Profit From Anheuser-Busch Sale

2008-07-14T14:49:37Z

Cindy McCain, wife of Republican presidential candidate John McCain, is set to get a huge payout from the sale of Anheuser-Busch Cos., brewer of Budweiser and hundreds of other brands, to Belgian beverage giant InBev NV.

McCain, the heiress to the third-largest Anheuser distributor, owns at a minimum $1 million in the American company, according to John McCain's Senate financial disclosure forms, which don't offer any more information for large assets held by his spouse. Under the deal, she and other stockholders will get a cash payout for the stock, which is owned through her company, Hensley and Co.

Anheuser's stock price opened at $67.55 today, almost a 50% gain over the near $47 price in February when the possibility of a deal was made public. Cashing out could leave the McCains with hefty capital gains, which would be taxed at a rate of 15% under the Bush tax cuts that John McCain opposed and now supports. (Barack Obama has proposed raising the capital gains tax.)