Obama earned everything through his hardwork, not by taking a shortcut. Obama is a great example for our country to follow and McCain is a good example of what not to do. Obama comes across as a thoughtful governor who has thought through and understood problems of the economy, and world affairs, coupled with a very rare genuineness about wanting to serve. He even knows how to project his answers well- in a pragmatic way (needed in this dangerous world that we live in now), albeit lacking political flare / cockiness/answers up your sleeve speaking that we got used to in the past 8 yrs- that McCain has.
MCain uses answers fed by his team that show as not having personally thought through- sometimes he even may disagree with, his only plus is his experience that befits more a military general, than a President who has to be more of an all rounder; maybe strength of character (only limited to Military, lacks badly in personal strength of character as portrayed by his failure of marriage, etc). He has no sense of actual foreign policy- that is needed in today's dangerous world, economy- will say whatever people want to hear- e.g. Drill here, drill now. Did he even think through that? His becoming a President would ensure a WW3.

Sent by Radhika, NJ | 11:59 AM ET | 08-22-2008

It is an odd and regular phenomenon in politics. It occurred to me while reading this that it is related to the anti-intellectual mentality or "book smart" bias that runs through our culture. The idea that someone who is smart and analyzes the issues sits in his "ivory tower" and is therefore out of touch with the real world. We seem to want to elect a good-ol-boy who learned everything he needs to know from the Bible. It seems especially true today with the marraige of the South and the religious right with the republican party.

Sent by mike | 12:46 PM ET | 08-22-2008

At least Barack Obama bought his house with money earned from his book sale, unlike the 7 homes John McCain lives in (probably does not own due to a pre-nup). His anger easy button also shows that he has bigger issues than not remembering the number of homes and being out of touch. He didn't earn his "elitism." What makes him special? I honor his war record, but does that make a president? Pray tell, did anything in G W's background make him special to be president? Obviously NOT. Yet, privilege did keep him from serving, and he does think he is special. His justification for stealing 2 elections because he was "divinely led to lead."

Sent by Dolores Turenne | 1:32 PM ET | 08-22-2008

And just why is it that so many in journalism believe that the "great unwashed" out here cannot hold more than one thought in mind at a time, and that all concepts must be reduced to code words, say "elitist."

I am so WAY more than ready for studious and smart persons (that might mean well above the bottom of the class at graduation time...)in positions of authority, and I have FAR more respect for someone who has some sense of their personal worth, who worked hard for it on their own, instead of shopping for a 20 years younger replacement trophy multi-millionare wife, when the woman to whom they made vows no longer met their needs.

Also, I learned to fly a plane on my own nickel--and can we stop the fawning over the POW--he crashed FOUR taxpayer built military planes before he was shot down.

Yes, some of us have noted that if one cannot track their own home ownership, just what chance is there that outrageous military spending and incredibly bad balance of trade matters could be handled well?

Sent by homebuilding | 1:42 PM ET | 08-22-2008

Mr. Ridley:

Since he's making elitism a campaign issue, it's only fair that John McCain's elitism be discussed.

NPR shouldn't let McCain slide on his elitism when he owns a high-rise condo in Phoenix, a large ranch in Arizona's horse country (aka his "Cabin"), a home in La Jolla, a residence in Washington D.C, two condos on Coronado, and God knows how much more high dollar real estate. Not sure what circles Mr. Ridley travels in, but this definitely puts McCain in an elite group.

McCain has used an army of tax lawyers and accountants to make possible his financial "separation" from his wife Cindy's fortunes. Most of us do our own taxes and can barely afford one lawyer. I'd say that makes McCain elite.

Most of us don't have a wife worth hundreds of millions of dollars. (She owns a beeer distributorship in the desert... talk about a license to print money!).

Imagine being able to buy anything in the world you want... on your spouse's credit cards. If that's hard to imagine, you're not as elite as McCain.

A career Washington politician... that's pretty elite. Owning your own jet... that's pretty elite. $560 for a pair of shoes? Most guys don't own $560 worth of shoes.

Imagine growing up on Navy bases where your father was the Admiral and HIS father was an even bigger Admiral. And they get you into Anapolis. That's pretty darn elite.

In media coverage, only an elite few politicians can get away with crowning Putin the president of Germany, incorrectly reunite Czechoslovakia, use al Qaida and Sunni interchangeably, or get away with quoting Wikipedia as foreign policy.

Only an elitist is proud that he doesn't know how to use a computer... the way ultra-rich behaved at the dawn of the automobile, insisting that servants take care of such contraptions for them.

I agree with your premise that we want an overachiever in the President's office and that a take charge personality is a must for the job.

But that person also must have empathy, compassion, and a sense of how every decision made affects all Americans. It would help McCain relate to us if he'd ever lived like us.

When you're flying over the nation in your private jet traveling from one of your West Coast residences to one of your East Coast residences, it's tough to empathize with all those insignificant little dots below.

Mr. McCain brought up elitism. His elitism is fair game. His 7 or 10 or 13 houses DO make him an elitist, Mr. Ridley. After all, even Oprah didn't say "I left my favorite pan at ONE of my HOUSES."

Sent by Bill Andres | 1:45 PM ET | 08-22-2008

You're right, the question isn't how many houses John McCain has... the question is why can't he remember how many he has? The keys to the White House do not belong in this guy's hands.

Sent by Tommy | 2:05 PM ET | 08-22-2008

John,

Great article! You are right on. I believe the news said thed houses are owned by Cindy McCain in which case John may not know. Obama needs to quit bad-mouthing the United States. How could he possibly compare us to China or Russia in any way! Keep the intelligence coming John!

Sent by Joan Chantaca | 2:20 PM ET | 08-22-2008

OK, where were you when McCain was painting Obama with the elitist brush? It would have been nice of you to come to Mr. Obama's defense so quickly, as you to have Mr. McCain's. I read an article yesterday ("Rural slice of a big state tests Obama" by Michael Powell of the NYT's), where James Stanford, a retired Raccoon Township, PA resident said, "Obama got one thing right, we are bitter here." So, I guess Sen. Obama isn't as elitist or out of touch as McCain and the Republicans claim. But, and this is the part that bothers me, that you would defend someone like McCain who has supported Bush's policies more than 95% of the time. Pres. George W. Bush, who calls his base "the haves, and the have mores." McCain could have a great impact on lessening the housing crisis simply by donating some of those houses he has trouble keeping track of. For me, the question is not can Mr. John "I can't remember now, let me have my staff count my houses and we'll get back to you on that" McCain solve the housing crisis. It's does he give a damn to even be bothered?

Sent by Dan Hardman | 3:01 PM ET | 08-22-2008

John,

Phenomenally well stated! Kudos! These are the kind of level headed insights we need during campaign time!

Again... well said!

Sent by Jon | 3:06 PM ET | 08-22-2008

Mr. McCain's response concerned me because I have heard him several times be at a loss for answers to simple questions and act very confused. Our country cannot afford to end up with another Alzheimer's patient in office. In the early stages of dementia, it is often easy to attribute confusion and forgetfulness to being "over extended" or having a "senior moment." Mass denial that this man may have a serious medical problem is very scary.
I have cared for men with dementia and have seen them take very "hawkish" stances. I suspect they begin to feel they are losing their physical prowess and it makes them angry. This is understandable, but dangerous to those around them; I see McCain speaking like he can hardly wait to have a shoot-out.
Voters need to know exactly why he is acting so confused at times and why he can't remember how many homes he has, etc.

Sent by commoner | 3:11 PM ET | 08-22-2008

I think this is a very well written article. After reading cnn for years and finally becoming fed up with their biased reporting (many other news outlets are the same) I am now a dedicated npr.org reader and this article is an example of why.

McCain 08.

Sent by tom | 3:27 PM ET | 08-22-2008

The question is less whether McCain understands the metrics of the economic issues that impact the average citizen than whether he cares about those metrics' end result. Not knowing how many houses you own suggests a lack of concern for the "inevitable" economic ups and downs McCain's advisors have suggested make whiners out of ordinary folks. McCain's "Straight Talk" style masks a candidate far removed from the reality that economic downturns like this create, and that's his--and potentially our-- tipping point.

Sent by Marc | 4:15 PM ET | 08-22-2008

McCain has made himself vulnerable on this issue. On several occasions, he has tried to defend the Bush administration's economic prowess (if for no other reason than pandering to the far right). McCain has:
1) claimed we have made economic progress
2)allowed an advisor to claim Americans are just 'whining' about a 'mental recession'
3) claimed we weren't heading for a recession (which was technically correct but out of touch with reality)

The only defense for the current economy is that the GDP has not gone negative. However, this is not what lower middle class America sees. They see their own wages drop and see businessmen claiming record profits. They also see some business sectors coming unhinged (energy and banking). An elitist is not someone who has alot of money. It someone who doesn't understand the concerns of the poor or middle-class.

Sent by Maurice | 4:19 PM ET | 08-22-2008

The point is that McCain doesn't know the affect on the value of his 7 or is it 8 houses, nor does he understand the effect, as president, he could have on the market and housing. He has said it himself, he doesn't understand economics well. When you have access to so much money that one can't keep track of something as trival as how many homes one ownes, I think that qualifies as elitist. Secessful is one thing. Marrying well is another.

Sent by Kdk | 4:21 PM ET | 08-22-2008

Good point! Nobody wants ineptness in the White House (again), but, oddly enough, the electorate seems to want someone they can identify with... And that is a mistake.

I am not concerned with McCain being an elitist. My concern stems from the fact that he could not remember a fact as simple as how many homes he has. That's what I find troubling; the man has diminishing capacities, and I don't think we can have another president secretly nursing Alzheimer's disease.

Sent by Francisco Solares-Larrave | 4:29 PM ET | 08-22-2008

The elitist charge springs from the politics of the lowest common denominator. It's the path that the Republican party has taken for the past 20 years. It's a shame really, because this dumbing-down will only serve to ultimately render the party irrelevant.

Sent by JPowers | 5:44 PM ET | 08-22-2008

My concern is not eletism, but memory. If a person can not remember how many houses he has, then it raises a serious question about recall or veracity.

I am concerned that he had to ask his staff. I would have liked him to take a minute and figure it out on his own.

That the answer given was four when he really owns seven implies that he relies on advisors to much and is not in touch with the financial management of his own home.

It also seems odd Cindy McCain forgets her siblings for political convenience.

Can we take four years more of any President who denies factual reality pursuing political ambition?

Sent by Christopher M. Brown | 6:02 PM ET | 08-22-2008

In my opinion the only thing that John McCain has shown a capacity to excel in is the ability to dump his first wife for a much younger one with much more money---most of his wealth (and the houses bought with it are his wife's.

Sent by Debbie | 6:18 PM ET | 08-22-2008

Mr. McCain ownes more than two houses. I should hope so, as he and his wife are wealthy.
Mr. Obama is informing his supporters of his VP choice by text message.
I have Verizon. Does he? Will a supporter be charged for the text message? I do not text, have no text plan, and wonder if I'd be charged for being informed, if I were a supporter.
Hopefully not, as this would really be supporting "big business".
And hopefully, no "regular guy" president in the future will take as many vacation days as what we've recently experienced.

Sent by betsy Hollweck | 7:24 PM ET | 08-22-2008

The real issue is when somebody who has so many houses that he can't remember the exact number says the economy is fine when people with ONE house are in foreclosure. That is a ridiculous disgrace. It may not be elitism, but it is stupid.

Sent by Thelonious | 8:40 PM ET | 08-22-2008

Elitism is believing you are elite and having wealth and power to act accordingly. That is to say, elitism is an action.

Is mccain an elitist? Isn't all our leadership (they act in their own interest and they have the power to do so)? Does mccain need 8 houses? No he does not. No one needs 8 houses.

Do we, as Americans derive our wealth and power from consistent undermining and exploitation of poor, foreign, and colored people? Yes we do.

Money is not a quantifier of worth. Sorry, it's not, it never has been. Having the money to own 8 houses doesn't mean you've "excelled". It just means you are better at exploiting a stupid, destructive, suicidal economic system.

Wake up.

Sent by Jody Sol | 9:23 PM ET | 08-22-2008

Hmmm...might the fuel behind the housing boom and bust be partly provided by people with more than one home? How can anyone understand what's negatively affecting equity - ironic word, nothing equitable about it - when
market speculation, over consumption and false sense of value are driving undercutting it?

Seven houses - does anyone live in them?
Are the lights on? Is the HVAC running?

These temples to self - houses, as some people call them - are shameful substitutes for the core concept of shelter. Shelters have human value - seven homes?

We think our possessions, our homes, our families, our countries, will shield us from anything unwanted - even death - and we build these little monuments to ourselves as pretense that we really are deserved and significant and important.

At some point in the not too distant future, people will look back at the obscene consumerism and materialism of our age, and see it for what it truly is - a sign of the inherent weakness and fear that lies within all our hearts.

Be it McCain or Winfrey, joe blow or jane doe, we seem to substitute or accept the notion of material accomplishment as equating to human value.

That's really gross!

Sent by lee | 7:36 AM ET | 08-23-2008

I know John McCain is an elitist because he grow up with a silver spoon in his mouth, grandfather and father was a naval admiral. John McCain joined an elite group of bomber pilots, flew 35000 ft. to bomb people at a distance and never saw the people he killed in vietnam.

Sent by Death from above | 9:49 AM ET | 08-23-2008

watching this fascinating contest from afar, we too in australia have the elite debate, but i like John, want someone a cut above to be running the country. They should have the courage to say that's not important, this is..
hilary's dive into hokey down home drinkin' n shootin' in an attempt to win the blue collar voters was cringeworthy at best.

thanks for such a clear take on things, john

Sent by John (from Melbourne Australia) | 8:44 PM ET | 08-23-2008

Thank you for a thoughtful piece on this trope of American politics. I have often wondered why Americans seem to think that success somehow disqualifies someone from holding one of the most elite jobs in the world. Citizens of all economic and political backgrounds hope for smart children who will attend college, all the better if it's a good one, and generally do well in life. Why do those same voters recoil from presidential candidates who've fulfilled their own parents' dreams?

The ideals of democracy seek a leader from among the people. As political campaigns come to more closely resemble marketing campaigns, and key policy issues are evaluated more for how they will impact a particular demographic today than for how they will sustain the country into the future, concrete qualifications not only lose value, but are demonized. Instead of choosing a leader for his/her ability to see above the mundane, we punish the candidate for being "out of touch".

The human race has searched for millennia for the perfect political system. Our aversion to "elitism" points up one of the inherent problems with a veritable democracy. If given the choice between the welfare of the whole and our immediate personal welfare, we will inevitably choose our own. Sadly, this rubric invariably results in the election of those with our our same moral high mark.

Sent by Amy Clithero Gill | 10:33 PM ET | 08-23-2008

I am wondering why we don't just put the whole question about "elitism" aside and explore if his response to the question brings forth a need to wonder about his level of mental functioning?

Sent by Bren | 3:13 AM ET | 08-24-2008

Elitist! A canard that is thrown around every election. Obama is more suited for the job because he really can pronounce nuclear, beies being a quick study.

McCain has become so dam scripted that any controversial issue or fact not having to do with defense and he immediately needs to "get back to his advisers". Will this be the John McCain in the White House?? When anything besides the WAR that raises its head, will we see John McCain getting back to his version of Dick Chaney,(remember the big energy plan in 2001 that worked so well)? John McCain has already said that the economy is not his thing,(subsequently remarks sounded like they were taken out of a can that one of his advisers just opened). All this sends a real shudder through through me. After having suffered through 8 years of a real a real know nothing administration it is unpleasent to see another half qualified candidate from the Republicans. I don't believe McCain knows anything useful about the economy and worse yet I don't think he is motivated to learn. Because of course he can always get back to his advisers. the picture of Phil & Wendy Graham running the economy for the next 4-8 years is not good.

Goldie in Accord NY

Sent by Goldie Goldberg | 10:30 AM ET | 08-24-2008

"Brother, I don't care if the candidate knows the local price of gas. I care if he fully understands the metrics that drive up or down a barrel of oil."
"So the question isn't how many houses John McCain owns. The question is: Does he understand what's negatively affecting the equity of those houses, and what can be done about it, and how such gross fluctuations can be prevented in the future?
"He'd better hope he doesn't have to check with his staff to answer that one."
Brilliant. This insistence on being a regular Joe Blow dimwit as a qualification for the most powerful nation's Chief Executive beats the hell out of me. Write on, Bro.

Sent by Beresford | 10:49 AM ET | 08-24-2008

Oprah is a well paid celebrity and everybody expects her to be wealthy.

McCain is a senator/ex-prisoner and people like me wonder how he has so many houses he cannot count.

Makes me think of the Keating 5

Sent by brian | 12:08 PM ET | 08-24-2008

George W. Bush is not an ordinary joe. The perception is false. An ordinary joe is not bailed out and helped along by a well-connected family, bridging life between the most posh settings of the northeast and the decadence of Texas oil drilling.

The problem with elitism was illustrated by Jefferson and our founding fathers, and expanded with further suffrage. We're all in this together, and nobody has divine right or superiority to another. We trust those with intelligence, experience, and integrity to make fair choices.

For elitism, see the Bushes, such as granting political favors for "presidential library" donations (bribes).

Sent by Andy | 12:29 AM ET | 08-25-2008