The Rich Are Different From You and Me

Politico:

Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) said in an interview Wednesday that he was uncertain how many houses he and his wife, Cindy, own.

"I think — I'll have my staff get to you," McCain told Politico in Las Cruces, N.M. "It's condominiums where — I'll have them get to you."

The correct answer is at least four, located in Arizona, California and Virginia, according to his staff. Newsweek estimated this summer that the couple owns at least seven properties...

...McCain’s comments came four days after he initially told Pastor Rick Warren during a faith forum on Sunday his threshold for considering someone rich is $5 million — a careless comment he quickly corrected.

In the interview, McCain did not offer an alternate number, but had a new answer ready.

“I define rich in other ways besides income,” he said. “Some people are wealthy and rich in their lives and their children and their ability to educate them. Others are poor if they’re billionaires.”

McCain, by anyone's measure, is well-off, if you account for his wife's fortune. Cindy McCain inherited control of her father’s beer distributorship, the largest in Arizona, and has an estimated worth of more than $100 million.

I've heard, variously, that the McCains own somewhere between 8 and 10 homes. That's got to be some kind of weird, not being able to remember how many friggin' homes you own. I know, I know, I'm a big old elitist for mentioning it, but still.

In light of this interesting development, might I suggest you all take the four minutes necessary to watch this video, McCain's Mansions from Brave New Films? It's worth the time, just to help put McCain's foggy real estate memory in the proper context.