Who's the Elitist Now? Barack Obama Rips Into John McCain for Not Knowing How Many Homes He Owns

By: Matt Apuzzo, Associated Press

WASHINGTON - 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 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.

Who's the Elitist Now?....

Commentary: The Black Candidate Has to Prove to White America That He’s Not an Elitist? How Ironic

By: Deborah Mathis, BlackAmericaWeb.com

I have no crystal ball and can’t read a tarot card any better than I can read a carrot cake, but this I know: The newly decisive presidential matchup -- Obama v. McCain -- is going to give us plenty to talk about. Shock, surprise, suspense, conflict, contrast.

And, yes, irony -- one of which has already presented itself, as in the irony of a black American man having to prove to poor, rural and working class American whites that he’s not an elitist.

According to the folks who get paid to think about such things, that is going to be one of the newly minted presumptive nominee’s first and most formidable challenges. He is going to have to build a connection with the Sams Clubbers; the Costcoites; the brownbaggers whose lunch today is made up of the remnants of last night’s dinner; the working woman who got her evening gown for the company gala on sale, marked down twice; the owner of the flatbed pickup with the gun rack; the guys who hunt squirrel and rabbit and fish for bass –- and eat, not mount, their kill.

COMMENTARY....