http://voices.washingtonpost.com/thefix/2008/08/analysis_why_the_heated_home_d.htmlClass remains a powerful motivator for many voters in the country. Politicians are forever trying to cast their candidacies as closely rooted in the communities from which they sprung -- a purposeful attempt to ensure that voters know that the candidate "understands the problems of people like you." Put simply: The worst thing you can call a politician is an elitist.
And so, seen through that lens, it makes perfect sense why Democrats have picked up on John McCain's comment that he wasn't sure about how many houses he and his wife own -- comments made to Politico's Mike Allen and J-Mart -- and why Republicans have fought back so quickly and so hard.
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The initial question, put to McCain during an interview in Las Cruces, N.M., seemed to catch the Arizona senator off guard. "I think -- I'll have my staff get to you," McCain said. "It's condominiums where -- I'll have them get to you." That's not exactly the sort of definitive language that politicians and their handlers like to use when dealing with the media.
Democrats, sensing an opportunity to show McCain as out of step with voters, quickly began blasting away.
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For Obama then, McCain's house confusion is a double whammy. Not only does it allow them to paint the Arizona senator as out of touch with the concerns of voters but it also gives Obama a platform on which to tout himself as a champion of the working class.
One other interesting side note about the housing story: If Obama's campaign had planned to roll out their vice presidential pick at any point today, that announcement is likely to be put on hold. Why? The campaign believes the story about McCain's many houses is political gold and they won't want to step on it with a veep announcement that would immediately change the day's storyline.
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