Houses houses everywhere

McCain not sure how many houses he and wife own. Don't you hate it when you forget stuff like that?

John McCain may have created his own housing crisis.

Hours after a report that the Republican presidential nominee-in-waiting didn't know how many homes he and his multimillionaire wife own, Democratic rival Barack Obama launched a national TV ad and a series of campaign stops aimed at portraying McCain as wealthy and out of touch.

With the economy ranking as the top issue in the race, Obama sought to turn McCain's gaffe into one of those symbolic moments that stick in voters' minds.

Think John Kerry sailboarding or the first President Bush wowed by a grocery store checkout scanner, Michael Dukakis riding in a tank or Gerald Ford eating a tamale with the husk still on.

"I think -- I'll have my staff get to you," McCain told Politico when asked Wednesday how many houses he owns. "It's condominiums where -- I'll have them get to you."

Later, the McCain campaign told Politico that McCain and his wife, Cindy, have at least four in three states -- Arizona, California and Virginia. Newsweek recently estimated the two owned at least seven properties.

Actually, The Politico now puts the count at eight, possibly more. Maybe the second beach condo got lost in the shuffle. But as Texas on the Potomac suggests, once you get past four it's easy to lose count.

Which is probably why Barack Obama stopped counting at seven:

More here. Interestingly, the AP story has changed, including the identity of the reporter, from when it was first posted. Not sure what's up with that, but either way it's not a good story for McCain.

Posted by Charles Kuffner on August 22, 2008 to The making of the President