Anonymous wrote:It is an Obama ad, I believe, Rich. Everyone I know in the MSM is reporting it as one, and marveling at the swift response. It's aimed at McCain not being able to remember how many houses he owns in a conversation with Politico staff yesterday.

Barack Obama's campaign, moving rapidly to exploit what they see as a major opportunity, is deploying high-profile surrogates in 16 states across the country today to highlight John McCain's uncertainty yesterday about how many houses he owns, the Democrat's campaign tells Politico.

Governors, members of Congress and state legislators will hold conference calls and press conferences in front of homes to draw attention to the issue. Party leaders such as Tennessee Gov. Phil Bredesen and Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius, on the stump in Ohio and Iowa respectively, wil move to incorporate the matter into their remarks on the campaign trail today in an effort to draw local media attention to the story.

Further, some state parties will hold contests in which Democrats seek out real voters who don't know how many houses they own.

And in other states, ordinary citizens who have been victim of the mortgage crunch will hold press availabilities to contrast their plight with McCain's wealth.

The aggressive move on Obama's part is in keeping with a shift in campaign tactics since his vacation. Obama and his campaign aides have both ramped up their rhetoric in recent days. This latest effort reflects a willingness to hit McCain much harder and to veer from conventional issue-based attacks to the sort of character assaults that have marked the GOP's campaign against Obama as well as their effort against John Kerry in 2004.

Anonymous wrote:It's fine for Obama to say he owns only one house, but he's not exactly a middle-class guy with earnings over $4 million last year alone and two more books coming out. I wish neither candidate would go down this road. It's irrelevant and, of course, everyone who wins the presidential nomination these days is a millionaire. Bill Clinton was not, but everyone since then has been.

Anonymous wrote:McCain was being tongue and cheek about five million being wealthy and even said he was sure the Obama people would make something of it and of course they did. Who cares how many homes or condos someone has. The reality was that he might have been confused because some were investment properties and his wife (who is really wealthy) may have had additional real estate as part of her trust. I loved the McCain response that Obama who bought a house with help from a soon to be felon shouldn't go there. Not to mention that Obama himself is rich and good for him on that-wealth is a good thing and not something to be embarrassed about.