04:45 pm
McTV Cribs: The Battle of the Home Memes
With the revelation that John and Cindy McCain own at least seven homes worth at least $13.8 million, this campaign may come down to which of the following images better describes John McCain’s character.
Both are places that McCain has lived.
The first is one of McCain’s current homes, via Architectural Digest:
The caption on this photo reads
“The spacious rear patio, which has a swimming pool and a covered area for barbecuing, is off a guesthouse with bedrooms, a dressing room and baths. “We use the outdoor area all the time,” Cindy McCain says. “Our kids use it, and we use it for family friends and official events.”
Here’s how McCain v. Minnesota describes this as a set of three connected homes, worth $1.1 million:
The first two ranch properties are held by the Cindy Hensley McCain Family Trust, while the third is held by Sedona Hidden Valley Limited Partnership. According to the Arizona Republic, the three houses include, “A main house, guest house and caretakers’ quarters [and] total more than 4,800 square feet.”
The second is a different kind of residence, via the blog on McCain’s website:
The caption on this photo reads,
“These are the never-before-seen last known photos of Sen. John McCain’s Hoa Lo prison cell, images that prove that, even after being cleaned up for an American historical filmmaker, the terror of the Hanoi Hilton is real. Debra Watkins. . .took the pictures and video in 1993 and 1994 before this and other areas of the century-old prison were destroyed. . . . Watkins did volumes of research before traveling to Hanoi, sparked by reports the government planned to rip down most of the facility. She was able to find McCain’s cell which she says is pictured in the above photos.”
So which meme will the voters choose?
John McCain as rich out-of-touch white guy? That is what Barack Obama wants you to think.
Or John McCain as heroic former POW? That is what McCain wants you to think.
The reality, of course, is that both are true.
But only one is relevant: no matter how great McCain’s heroism, the key question to most Americans is not whether he survived torture but whether he can make their lives better. To put it another way, heroism can make someone more admired, but extreme wealth can make them less liked.