Strike & Riposte
The Obama Campaign recently published out an attack ad vs. Sen. John McCain. In the attack ad they imply that any man who doesn’t know how many homes he owns is far too rich to be President of the US.
This was a well crafted attack vs. McCain. It resonated well with many middle and lower class Americans. But by bringing up home ownership Obama has opened the door for his own real estate problem with Tony Rezko. As I predicted Team McCain was quick to jump on this.
In November 2006, Sen. Obama admitted to Chicago newspaper reporters that buying the Hyde Park townhouse adjacent to the vacant lot purchased by Tony Rezko’s wife, Rita, was a “boneheaded” move. For the most part the media accepted that and everyone moved on.
Unfortunately, by bringing up home ownership in an attack ad Obama has once again made his own home ownership – with its attendant appearance of impropriety and possible corruption – newsworthy again.
Since Obama has previously admitted his poor judgment in dealing with Resko there’s little defense he can offer up this time around. The absolutely worst thing he could do would be to claim that this was old news and an an old attack. That would be effectively parroting Hillary Clinton which would be an even bigger blow to his campaign.
Obama’s campaign staff really should have known better than to do this. Some attacks are not worth cost and the obvious counter and riposte.
Tags: 2008 Elections | McCain | Obama | Politics
August 26th, 2008 at 11:12 am
While it’s true that Obama’s relationship with Rezko is fair game, so too is the number of non-rental homes owned by McCain. I mean seriously. How many blessed houses does a man need? It’s not just about home ownership but about conspicuous consumption during a time when foreclosures on sub-primes and primes are rapidly rising. And if McCain cannot recall how many homes he owns then perhaps he does own too many to be in touch with Joe Sixpack.
August 26th, 2008 at 11:22 am
I doubt very much that either McCain, who is essentially a kept man or Obama who is a multimillionaire Harvard Law graduate really have much in common with Joe and Jane Sixpack.
I just think that the attack was a poor idea. Obama got past Rezko once, why risk it again just to show that McCain is both wealthy and has little knowledge of his wife’s finances? I think there were better ways to use McCain’s gaffe.