Who’s an “Elitist?”

Update: See in the comments, McCain was quoted a couple days ago as knowing the price of gas. I stand corrected.

Think Progress » McCain: I ‘Don’t See How It Matters’ That I Don’t Know The Price Of Gas

WICKSOL: When was the last time you pumped your own gas and how much did it cost?

MCCAIN: Oh, I don’t remember. Now there’s Secret Service protection. But I’ve done it for many, many years. I don’t recall and frankly, I don’t see how it matters.

I’ve had hundreds and hundreds of town hall meetings, many as short a time ago as yesterday. I communicate with the people and they communicate with me very effectively.

And he doesn’t even pay his taxes on all of his seven houses.

Yeah, a real “man of the people.”

Comments

  1. Marty wrote:

    Dude. Look- I understand the conversion from right to left and all. I mean, hey- that’s your perogative and all. But man- when you first changed over, you at least tried to think for yourself and talked about things that were important. Heck- you even still had a sense of humor, but no more. Lately you’ve just become just another Oliver Willis type cheerleader for the Democrats, warts and all. It’s sad.

    Does it matter that McCain doesn’t remember what he paid at the pump the last time he pumped gas for himself? Would ANYONE dare ask Barak Obama or Al Gore or Hillary Clinton the same question? I’m sure they all know the approximate price of gas based on what the read or see in the news, but when do you think the last time it was that any of these politicians pumped their own gas? Just another stupid ‘gotcha’ question that doesn’t mean a damn thing.

    And as for the property tax thing? Did you even bother to read the article? Are you also following the problems on Obama’s friends who built and manage the failing low income housing in his district that he help funnel local, state, and federal dollars to?

    Nah- Cindy McCain’s Trust having a mix-up on tax bills is much more damning than funnelling taxpayer money to your slumlord friends.

    Posted 29 Jun 2008 at 11:09 am

  2. Stephen wrote:

    Marty,

    Are you saying the whole “elitist” charge is ****, and shouldn’t have been introduced at all, against either candidate?

    Posted 29 Jun 2008 at 12:07 pm

  3. a former european wrote:

    The sad truth is that the US political class as a whole, irrespective of party or ideological affiliation, has been pretty much elitist for as long as I can remember.

    I have hated McCain long before anyone ever heard of Obama. He is just another Washington politico who is out of touch with the real world. In my experience, the more out of touch the politico, the more they like to clothe themselves in “Man of the People” garb.

    Posted 29 Jun 2008 at 4:20 pm

  4. Scrutineer wrote:

    “The price of a gallon of gas in America stands at more than four dollars. Yesterday, a barrel of oil cost about 134 dollarsm” said McCain.” - June 17

    via Patterico

    Posted 29 Jun 2008 at 4:46 pm

  5. Alon Levy wrote:

    Would ANYONE dare ask Barak Obama or Al Gore or Hillary Clinton the same question?

    In 2004, they asked John Edwards what the price of milk was. He gave a correct answer, as I recall. I thought and still think it really doesn’t matter. However, the “The media only does this to members of my party” charge is rarely true, regardless of who makes it.

    The sad truth is that the US political class as a whole, irrespective of party or ideological affiliation, has been pretty much elitist for as long as I can remember.

    As a former European, you probably know this better than me: is the European political class any less elitist? From what I can tell with the EU negotiations, it considers the common citizenry an annoying inconvenience.

    Posted 29 Jun 2008 at 4:54 pm

  6. John the Marine wrote:

    Yeah, a real “man of the people.”

    And your guy is? Please, wake up. If you think Obama is a man of the people your crazy.

    The sad truth is that the US political class as a whole, irrespective of party or ideological affiliation, has been pretty much elitist for as long as I can remember.

    Absolutely!

    is the European political class any less elitist? From what I can tell with the EU negotiations, it considers the common citizenry an annoying inconvenience.

    Yep, I would agree. Some things are a constant in this world.

    Only the dimmest of fools thinks a politician cares about them.

    Posted 29 Jun 2008 at 10:27 pm

  7. Alon Levy wrote:

    The dimmest of fools, and the most powerful of business leaders. Annoyingly, the populists, who try to reverse this cycle, end up treating common people as a collective hivemind lacking individuality and needing the benevolent leaders’ direction. (And conversely, the reformists, who’re pissed at the corruption of both the ordinary political class and the populists, tend to have similar paternalistic assumptions, approached from the opposite direction.)

    Posted 30 Jun 2008 at 12:57 am

  8. Joe R. wrote:

    “Lately you’ve just become just another Oliver Willis type cheerleader for the Democrats, warts and all.”

    Actually, he’s worse. Willis didn’t mention that Rove’s recent “elitist” country club comment was racist when he blogged about it.

    Posted 30 Jun 2008 at 1:35 am

  9. Dan Kauffman wrote:

    And he doesn’t even pay his taxes on all of his seven houses.

    Now that is a reach and not substantiated by the article you linked to

    San Diego County officials, it turns out, have been sending out tax notices on the La Jolla property, an oceanfront condo, for four years without receiving a response. County records show the bills, which were mailed to a Phoenix address associated with Mrs. McCain’s trust, were returned by the post office. According to a McCain campaign aide, who requested anonymity when discussing a private matter, an elderly aunt of Mrs. McCain’s lives in the condo, and the bank that manages the trust has not been receiving tax bills on the property. Shortly after NEWSWEEK inquired about the matter, the McCain aide e-mailed a receipt dated Friday, June 27, confirming payment by the trust to San Diego County in the amount of $6,744.42. County officials say the trust still owes an additional $1,742 for this year, an amount that is overdue and will go into default July 1. Told of the outstanding $1,742, the aide said: “The trust has paid all bills shown owing as of today and will pay all other bills due

    So a Bank that handles McCain’s Trust in this case a condo that her elderly aunt lives in was by some error not getting the Tax bills,

    That can happen I fail to believe the Trust Dept of a Bank would purposely default on such a sum.

    Tell me? Exactly what portion of this story did you derive the

    And he doesn’t even pay his taxes on all of his seven houses.

    Posted 30 Jun 2008 at 4:22 am

  10. Dan Kauffman wrote:

    Oh that should have been Mrs McCain’s Trust

    Posted 30 Jun 2008 at 4:22 am

  11. Dan Kauffman wrote:

    Think Progress » McCain: I ‘Don’t See How It Matters’ That I Don’t Know The Price Of Gas

    Talk about selective editing

    The question was

    WICKSOL: When was the last time you pumped your own gas and how much did it cost?

    Boy they sure distorted the exchange to get the title

    Might be better to slam him for things he has actually done instead of these desparate reaches.

    I can’t find anything in either article that shows the man does not know what the price of gas is.
    He said he did not recall the last time he pumped it. That’s it period.

    Would not make such a dramatic title to have printed the truth I guess.

    Posted 30 Jun 2008 at 4:46 am

  12. a former european wrote:

    Yes, Alon, the european politicos are far worse. That’s why those europeans with any sense have come here.:)

    On second thought, I would exempt Vaclav Havel, and his deputy/successor (forgot his name) from that list. They seem to have done a pretty good job for the Czech Republic, but coming into freedom straight out of Soviet repression probably helps delay the onset of elitism.

    Posted 30 Jun 2008 at 10:03 am

  13. David C. wrote:

    I just moved and finally got my internet connection back up. I see I missed some stuff.

    Are you saying the whole “elitist” charge is ****, and shouldn’t have been introduced at all, against either candidate?

    In the sense that Obama and McCain are both members of the political elite, it’s basically bs, yes. On the other hand, Republicans normally use elitist as an attack on policy positions as well — with elitist meaning something like “big-government liberal.” So in that sense it’s applicable. Although to be fair, John McCain is essentially a big government Republican. But since Democrats tend to like big government, the elitist attack works better when used by Republicans.

    Posted 30 Jun 2008 at 9:46 pm

  14. Bill wrote:

    “But man- when you first changed over, you at least tried to think for yourself and talked about things that were important. Heck- you even still had a sense of humor, but no more. It’s sad.”

    Indeed. This blog used to offer a genuinely unique perspective.

    Posted 01 Jul 2008 at 4:49 pm

  15. Pigilito wrote:

    From the perspective of having lived and blogged from Switzerland for a few years (now sadly ended), I can vouch for the elite attitude of most Euro politicians, especially in Germany and Austria and Italy. That Ireland put this to a referendum was great; I see it as putting tha cat in among the canaries.

    The nation with the least eleitist politicians: hands down, it’s Switzerland. They have a long history of gathering to debate and vote on topics from the local level on up that no one would consider allowing Parlement to decide for them.

    Posted 02 Jul 2008 at 7:54 am

  16. Alon Levy wrote:

    Yeah, Switzerland is unique like that. I hear that in more rural parts, they used to vote in town halls by raising their rifles, until the party poopers in the cities made them give women the right to vote in 1990.

    Posted 02 Jul 2008 at 8:55 am

  17. Pigilito wrote:

    *Sniff*…the good old days (although I think they raised swords). Hard to imagine that the progressive Switzerland of today was so far behind the times.

    Posted 02 Jul 2008 at 10:30 am

  18. a former european wrote:

    Not swords, pikes! Historically, the Swiss were famous for their unstoppable pikemen. That is, until someone figured out what cannonballs could do to a tightly packed, massed pike formation.

    Posted 02 Jul 2008 at 8:20 pm

  19. Pigilito wrote:

    AFE,

    You’re correct about the fearsome reputation of Swiss pikeman, but I’m pretty sure they used to raise their swords when it came time to vote. Pikes can get pretty messy during a debate.

    Posted 02 Jul 2008 at 10:23 pm

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