A genuine measure of elitism

Were my wife running for public office, you can be sure I'd make a donation to her campaign - if only to show my support and encouragement. It's the natural thing for a husband or wife to do, I think most people would agree.

What about the presidential candidates' spouses? The answer to that question is especially revealing in light of the charges of "elitism" directed so often against the least wealthy of the candidates, Barack Obama. I was not surprised to find, upon searching the FEC database, that Michelle Obama has given a modest donation to her husband's campaign (she gave $399 last year, to be precise).

Cindy McCain, however, has donated nothing to John's campaign through March of 2008 - not even once so far as FEC filings reveal. That fact reveals a good deal about the McCains.

Cindy McCain, who still refuses to release her tax returns, is operating at a whole different level than most of us. You may recall that the former CEO of Halliburton, Dick Cheney, had neglected for years to vote in Texas before he was nominated as a candidate for vice president in 2000. Like Cheney, Cindy McCain knows that her great personal wealth and business connections give her hidden ways to exercise political influence out of all proportion to what most ordinary citizens could ever hope to achieve. By comparison, the $2300 she'd be permitted by law to donate directly would be chicken feed in this family that owns eight houses. Cindy McCain just doesn't need to bother donating small sums to her husband's campaign.

For example as the NY Times revealed last month, Cindy McCain has donated the equivalent of hundreds of thousands of dollars to her husband's campaign by giving him her corporate jet to use at cut-rate prices.

Given Senator John McCain’s signature stance on campaign finance reform, it was not surprising that he backed legislation last year requiring presidential candidates to pay the actual cost of flying on corporate jets. The law, which requires campaigns to pay charter rates when using such jets rather than cheaper first-class fares, was intended to reduce the influence of lobbyists and create a level financial playing field.

But over a seven-month period beginning last summer, Mr. McCain’s cash-short campaign gave itself an advantage by using a corporate jet owned by a company headed by his wife, Cindy McCain, according to public records. For five of those months, the plane was used almost exclusively for campaign-related purposes, those records show.

Mr. McCain’s campaign paid a total of $241,149 for the use of that plane from last August through February, records show. That amount is approximately the cost of chartering a similar jet for a month or two, according to industry estimates.

The senator was able to fly so inexpensively because the law specifically exempts aircraft owned by a candidate or his family or by a privately held company they control.

Funny thing about that, it's McCain's own legislation that permits his wife to donate to his campaign the corporate jet service worth about $1 million. And according to the NY Times McCain continues to this day to use his wife's corporate jet. Clearly John McCain is unashamed to have had his hypocrisy on campaign-finance "reform" exposed so starkly. The McCains are well beyond the ordinary ethics that the rest of us bring to civic life.

That helps to explain why Cindy hasn't bothered to donate directly to her husband's campaign. Real elitism means never having to concern yourself about a few hundred bucks here or there.