Quote Originally Posted by dragonrider
The number of houses a candidate owns is irrelevant. McCain's problem with the house issue is a perception problem. People who are losing their houses might look at a guy who owns so many he can't even count them and wonder if he can relate to their problem of losing their one-and-only house to foreclosure and facing financial ruin. So while the issue is irrelevant, the perception is a problem.

Candidates get stuck with these kinds of irrelevant gaffes every election, and they can turn into real problems. When he was originally asked the question, he should have said, "My wife and I have four residences that we use when we are in different parts of the country, and we have other properties as investments --- I'm not sure of the exact number of investment properties." It was a mistake to say he didn't know how many houses he owns, and it will probably plague him for awhile.

The POW thing will become a perception problem too if he keeps throwing it out there. Especially if he throws it out there as a way to avoid another question, as it appeared he did this time. People respect McCain's service. He used to be reluctant to talk about it, and people respected that even more. Now he himself is throwing it out there a lot more, and it creates the perception problem that he is milking his war experience from 40 years ago for political gain. And yes, this is not the only time he personally has brought it up. He's been doing it frequently lately. If he uses it to deflect other questions it becomes more than a perception problem --- it's a form of evasion that is a real issue.
Excellent neutral post that I feel gives great insight to what is happening to both candidates over "issues" that should not be issues.

Great post