I’ll believe a bit more in media bias if this is not a big deal

From the Politico’s Jonathan Martin and Mike Allen:  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 us in Las Cruces, N.M. “It’s condominiums where – I’ll have them get ...

By , a professor of international politics at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University and co-host of the Space the Nation podcast.

From the Politico's Jonathan Martin and Mike Allen:  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 us 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.  This really has nothing to do with McCain's fitness for the presidency.  But it is the perfect, bite-size story that allows the media to frame a candidate as out of touch.  And, because it follows closely on the comment to Warren, it can be a meme.  I call upon my readers to pay close attention and see whether this story gets legs beyond the lefty blogosphere.   

From the Politico’s Jonathan Martin and Mike Allen

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 us 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. 

This really has nothing to do with McCain’s fitness for the presidency.  But it is the perfect, bite-size story that allows the media to frame a candidate as out of touch.  And, because it follows closely on the comment to Warren, it can be a meme.  I call upon my readers to pay close attention and see whether this story gets legs beyond the lefty blogosphere.   

Daniel W. Drezner is a professor of international politics at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University and co-host of the Space the Nation podcast. Twitter: @dandrezner

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