The past few weeks of the presidential campaign have been a focused battle that defined the 2004 campaign as well: who's elitist? Who's out of touch?
Well the battle is over, and not only did John McCain lose this battle, he personally handed the Obama camp the soundbite to vanquish him.
Barack Obama may be well-educated, he may have, through hard work and inspiring books, built himself a very comfortable life. But John McCain, with his latest revelation in how out of touch he is with the United States economy, and how much of a bumbling plutocrat he is, has managed to lose a battle that George W. Bush won four years ago- the image war.
Bush may be wealthy, but in both of his campaigns he managed to spin that into a non-issue- he was the folksy outsider everyone wanted him to be. McCain, however, has now very publically given Obama a powerful wedge: not only is he amazingly rich in a tough recession, he didn't work for it. And I think all those crucial working-class voters will respond- he's not like them, he never was. He's got 100$ million through a re-marriage, and utterly lost in his money and luxury.