Seven House Army?
The Obama campaign is mocking John McCain for owning seven houses. McCain’s staff, being less precise but in some ways more accurate, has said McCain owns at least four. Over here you can find the most expansive count which gives McCain ten. You could probably even push this up to eleven if you want to count the Phoenix double-condo as two separate homes. But I think that’s tendentious. To get to ten homes, you also need to count his various ranch properties as separate homes which I likewise think is tendentious — that’s best understood as a single $1.1 million vacation property. So that’s two homes. Then indisputably there’s the $847,800 pied à terre in Arlington where the McCains can stay when they’re in DC. That’s three. Then somewhat confusingly they own two different beach condos in Coronado, CA one worth $2.7 million and one worth $2.1 million so that’s five. And I’d say that five is arguably the correct answer.
To get to seven, you need to add in two additional properties that the McCains own. One is a $700,000 loft in Phoenix that they own and rent out. That’s unquestionably a McCain family financial asset, but I wouldn’t call it a “home,” it’s more akin to an investment. Then the tricky one is Meghan McCain’s loft. This was bought for her as a graduation present and I assume the underlying conceit is that it’s her loft rather than her parents’ and I think the precise ownership status of the property may be somewhat unclear. If they actually transferred title of the property to Meghan, there could be a large tax liability so probably the elder McCains own it. But I see five, six, and seven as all defensible answers to the question “how many homes does John McCain own?”
49 Responses to “Seven House Army?”
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August 21st, 2008 at 11:46 am
What’s the deal with the place in La Jolla? It seems (based on the value) that it’s not a misplaced Coronado property.
August 21st, 2008 at 11:48 am
I can recall knowing at least three people who live in homes or apartments owned by their parents, and none of them suffered from the illusion that they owned the property, even though they didn’t pay rent. I think it’s clear cut that the elder McCains own the loft.
August 21st, 2008 at 11:48 am
let McCain correct the number!
sheesh.
August 21st, 2008 at 11:48 am
This blog has gotten boring. Is the idea behind these posts that you need to repeat things over and over so that maybe the media will pay attention? I read blogs like this pecisely because I don’t like the MSM. The posts about McCain have simply been repetitive.
I feel like maybe in the past you didn’t comment on things where you didn’t think you had anything to add (or, from my point of view, I didn’t notice posts where you didn’t add any value). Now, though, there are lots of posts with no content.
Why not just replace the excess McCain’s houses posts with basketball or music posts? That makes it easier to identify the ones to ignore.
August 21st, 2008 at 11:52 am
Wow! Finally a serious attack ad. Good work, team Obama. Now that’s more like it.
McCain = clueless, out of touch rich guy who doesn’t care about your economic problems. They need to hammer that message from now till election day and every Obama surrogate needs to mention that McCain doesn’t even know how many houses he owns every chance they get. McCain = clueless rich guy needs to become a national joke.
Next up: McCain = prone to panic in a crisis and call up the 82nd airborne.
August 21st, 2008 at 11:54 am
Ian – I was certainly glad Matt posted the Obama response and commented on it.
August 21st, 2008 at 11:56 am
I would say that regardless of whether its THEIR home, if they rent out the house, they still actually OWN the home. So, you should count the rental and gift properties.
August 21st, 2008 at 12:00 pm
Check out Mike Allen’s reference to McCain today:
That’s right, his cabin that occupies a sprawling property spanning several addresses at the end of a private desert road at a scenic river bend: http://maps.live.com/default.aspx?v=2&FORM=LMLTCP&cp=34.793814~-111.897984&style=h&lvl=16&tilt=-90&dir=0&alt=-1000&phx=0&phy=0&phscl=1&encType=1
August 21st, 2008 at 12:01 pm
Don’t read the blog if it’s boring. I think it’s pretty interesting.
I think it is worth highlighting how many homes the McCain’s own. I actually would have assumed that more of them were investment properties. I’m surprised to find that only one of them is. The McCains are not just rich, but super rich. I’m not sure that most Americans realize this.
Earning several million dollars through a best selling book in a year you are running for President is understandable. Having your wife buy you a plane on a lark is beyond imagination for most people. Can the super rich understand the pain that the rest of us are feeling in this country?
Possibly. But, I would argue that John McCain is not just super rich, he also makes proposals that will primarily benefit him and his rich friends. His own family’s haul from his proposed tax hikes is more than most families make in an entire year. That doesn’t sound like good fiscal policy to me.
August 21st, 2008 at 12:08 pm
Just wanted to note how utterly hilarious it would be if pundits spend their time today and tomorrow debating exactly how many houses McCain does own, as MY has been doing. I can see this having major legs.
August 21st, 2008 at 12:10 pm
Wouldn’t this whole exercise be so much easier if we had the family’s full tax returns??
Seems they got away with it. Still haven’t done it and no one remembers or asks any more.
August 21st, 2008 at 12:13 pm
Then somewhat confusingly they own two different beach condos in Coronado, CA
My understanding is that when they bought the first one, the McCain children used it so much that Mrs. McCain became annoyed that she couldn’t have it all to herself and she acquired a new one.
Frankly, the fact that she cannot tolerate being around her own children is one of the most offputting things I’ve heard about her.
August 21st, 2008 at 12:13 pm
I, for one, would love to have a drawn out debate with the McCain campaign about whether McCain really owns only 4 or 5 or 6 homes, or whether it’s really 7 (or 10). In fact, that’s a battle I’d be perfectly happy to let McCain fight out over a week or so and win. That would really be just splendid.
August 21st, 2008 at 12:21 pm
Most Americans KNOW how many homes they own and I bet Obama knows how many homes he owns.
August 21st, 2008 at 12:27 pm
Yeaaaaaah….uh…this is the point I’m going to mark where Ygelsias lost his mind. “August 21, 2008: Trying to classify McCain properties”
It was a nice run of sanity, but it had to go sometime. Looking into McCain homes is looking into the abyss, it is unknowable. Just trust in the fact that he’s a man of the people and Barack Obama is an elitist. Trust.
http://thesebastards.blogspot.com/
August 21st, 2008 at 12:32 pm
I particularly like the part of the ad where he says, “He couldn’t remember.” Good, subtle reference to McCain being a doddering old codger, without harping on it.
August 21st, 2008 at 12:35 pm
Yes, I think the absolute best thing about this ad is the only way for McCain to respond to it is to argue over how many houses he has. Which is an argument he is not likely to win.
August 21st, 2008 at 1:02 pm
Which one is the home they didn’t pay taxes on?
August 21st, 2008 at 1:11 pm
Oh and who gets a home for a graduation present? A car, okay. Tickets to Europe, okay; but a home? I don’t know, sounds pretty elitist to me.
August 21st, 2008 at 1:38 pm
This is exactly correct. When we have to spend this much time “debating” how many homes you own, you own a lot of friggin’ real estate. As politics, it’s a stupid point, but no stupider than the crap flung by the Republicans and I ‘d love to see a few days of counting McCain households.
But it’s unfair to criticize McCain for not remembering. Look at how hard it is to keep track of them all!
August 21st, 2008 at 1:38 pm
For my graduation I got 35,000 of student loan debt.
August 21st, 2008 at 1:59 pm
Like Adam, I look forward to an extended national debate on the right number.
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=0Glia_Vrbc8
August 21st, 2008 at 2:24 pm
But i think the point is not how many homes he/they own, but it’s the fact that they are rich enough to be able to buy that many homes. at least 4, 5, or 6 more than most people and 5,6, or 7 more than the rest of us.
August 21st, 2008 at 2:58 pm
The election is over.
This is going to destroy McCain.
August 21st, 2008 at 3:08 pm
Does Obama, who lives in, like, a big house in Chicago full of like books and other effeminate stuff, and eats lots of salad all the time, like really weird salad that I can’t spell the name of, does that guy really want to get into an argument about who is the richiest?
August 21st, 2008 at 3:17 pm
Ha, Obama is getting desperate.
August 21st, 2008 at 3:30 pm
Hey, did you hear McCain is rich?
I also heard he was old.
He also want to reinstitute the draft. Scratch that one. That was yesterday’s attempted hatchet job through Dowdified editing.
How about that cross in the sand story!
I love the smell of desperation.
August 21st, 2008 at 4:22 pm
This whole house thing is kind of stupid, of course, but I still think the Dems should play it to death.
The campaign has apparantly decided to make a big deal out of this, so all the volunteers and grassroots people out there should get to work and create a “how many houses”-meme:
What about black t-shirts with with white print “Got houses?
What about handing out packs of seven (or ten?) little Monopoly houses with John McCain’s name on them?
What about an official ad with Phil Gramm/”I’ll have to check with my staff”/”The only way to get around Arizona, really, is on a small private plane” + finish it off with the wonderful picture of McCain having birthday cake with Bush the day Katrina happened.
August 21st, 2008 at 5:11 pm
By the way, the latest analysis says John McCain owns zero houses.
Cindy McCain, however, owns eight.
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0808/12700.html
August 21st, 2008 at 5:38 pm
You forgot the condo in LaJolla, CA. The one the McCains owed back taxes on.
August 21st, 2008 at 5:49 pm
I love the smell of desperation.
Good thing you do, since you’re wallowing in it.
But not to worry – after McCain impersonates Marie Antoinette a couple more times, Obama’s really going to be in trouble then!
August 21st, 2008 at 6:23 pm
The issue isn’t that he owns 7 houses (or possibly 8 or 10), it’s that he doesn’t know. And that he’ll have to have his staff get back to the interviewer on that.
Americans aspire to be wealthy, yes we do. But how many people aspire to be so wealthy that they lose track of how many houses they own?
I’d love to own the ranch in Sedona, not to forget that I own the ranch in Sedona.
August 22nd, 2008 at 1:08 am
I have read that the ‘cabin’ in Sedona is 7000 square feet. McCain says there are 6 houses on the 20 acres of a startlingly lush stretch of Arizona country, on the water. Other sources say there are 4 houses, official records say 3 houses. And this property is valued at 1.8 million dollars? What sort of appraisal is this? This sounds like a lowball to me.
I wonder if the small, 700k condo in Phoenix was intended for the daughter. It was purchased at the same time as the one she lives in.
I wonder how the business that owns the daughter’s condo is structured? Does she pay rent? Is she on the payroll of the business? If she doesn’t pay rent what is the nature of the business and her relationship to the corporation?
There needs to be a hue and cry for Cindy McCain’s tax returns to be made public.
I agree much of this is a bullshit issue, but it has traction. Good. More of it, please. McCain started the bullshit, so let him explain all these houses, condos, corporations, relationships, $500 loafers, private jets, forgotten taxes and his wife’s family money. He is just a regular guy who married and heiress and they like condos. I am sure his POW heroism will explain most of this. But just in case it doesn’t he needs to explain it some more over the next couple of weeks.
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