How does John McCain afford the lifestyle he lives?

[Stinky The Clown]

He has multiple homes he can visit at will.

He has use a private jet, apart from his presidential campaign.

He entertains lavishly at his various homes.

The use of the pronoun 'he' lends a false impression. All of that is form his wife, Cindy's money.

John McCain has little. Cindy is worth in excess of $100 million.

John is a kept man.

That charge was made against John Kerry in 2004.

John Edwards was criticized for being too rich. But the fact is, he **earned** his money.

John McCain lives well through the largess of his politically ambitious, life-long Repubican wife. It is **she** who went out looking for a horse to ride. He is that horse. She intends to ride him to the presidency.

Our job is to ensure she finishes much like Big Brown in the Belmont.

[SoFlaJet]

1. he is a kept man H2S

Cindy is frickin LOADED

[Rosemary2205]

2. The big difference is McCain isn't one of the pretty people

I have no idea why but in general ugly or dorkish and rich is forgivable to an extent, attractive and rich makes one evil. It makes no sense but that's what it seems to be.

[havocmom]

3. Kept man or working dog. 'Fetch the White House for me, Johnny boy! Good dog.'

One might wonder just what return Cindy and her class hope to get on their investment.

[Rosemary2205]

4. what they hope to get on their investment ?? - hopefully disappointment !

:)

[havocmom]

12. Well, his 'campaign reform' legislation left loopholes big enough to fly a corporate jet through

So, he has been their pal, while playing Maverick for the presstitutes.

[blondeatlast]

5. Very apt way to put it; I'm fairly certain she's been the reins of his political ambitions

from the start.

[charlie]

7. I wonder what it's like to want something so bad

you're willing to let your spouse get away with calling you a c*nt. In public, no less. Could be Johnny knows where the skeletons in her business are hidden and they've got a mutual assured destruction thing going on. The two of them seem to spend a lot of time where the other is not in this campaign.

[havocmom]

14. Members of the Phoenix Ruling Class will do anything for power

The Phoenix 500 always struck me as insecure prom queens in search of the accouterments of social prestige, blue blood trappings, and general pretense that they are more than just the well heeled trailer trash they are.

[charlie]

17. Hey, I know those guys

Cheerleader moms who put contract hits on their girls' rivals and liquored-up dads who notch their belts with sad, needy waitresses... when they're not collecting Community Service and Dad of the Year awards, of course. The same moneyed yokels who infest Dallas/Ft Worth/Houston in my state.

[havocmom]

20. The Phoenix group is just plain dictatorial in their political endevours

AZ gov Janet Napolitano is an amazing leader to stand up against the usual powers that be in Phoenix. She is really tough.

[L0oniX]

6. Lots of money to be made from turning people into alcoholics. n/t

[karynnj]

8. This was an obnoxious charge in 2004, and still is in 2008

Both McCain and Kerry have spent lives in public service, because they believed it in. Look at the things that they did in those jobs and evaluate them on that. (There they are not equal - Kerry used his positions to fight corruption, McCain was one of the Keating 5.)

Kerry could have had a 20 plus year career as a trial lawyer - he was exceptionally good as one during the few years he was on. He rejected the wealth that could easily have been his to be one of the poorest Senators for nearly a decade. Surrounded by wealthy friends and relatives, he could not even afford apartments in both Boston and DC in addition to paying for his kids' education and support and travel to Boston each week to be with them. His solution - to crash with Boston and DC friends as a serious man in his forties - showed his priorities - his kids and his job in the Senate.

I do not mean to imply that there was anything wrong with Edwards earning a fortune - it was legal and he did it using his talents. I don't see that his choice was better than Kerry's. In addition, John and Teresa have a huge number of common interests and clearly are devoted to each other. I was impressed by the love and affection the Heinz boys expressed for Kerry in 2004. I doubt those relationships would be as close if they thought he married their mom for money. It is also completely insulting to Teresa, a very beautiful, brilliant, funny and kind woman. They became close friends working on environmental issues after they really met at the Rio conference. They both were founders of second nature - http://www.secondnature.org/aboutsn/aboutsn.htm. It was those professional connections that led to a deep friendship than a love, which neither had expected.

As to McCain, you can question his values, but you never know the truth about anyone's marriage. It is as likely that McCain was drawn to a gorgeous 20 something when he was in his 40s than that he married her for her money.

[havocmom]

15. Difference between Kerry/ McCain = REAL public service v lip service

His wife provides jet transportation through a loophole HE allowed in his 'campaign reform' tour de PR. HIS wife created a charity so she could steal drugs from it to support her habit, and she was more than happy to try and get some servant class patsies to take the fall for it.

Yeah, wives like that are on the table when they are the driving force behind the man's political career.

[karynnj]

18. The OP did not make that distinction and included Kerry

Even though Kerry could not and did not use his wife's assets in 2004, because it was illegal. Strangely, there was no effort to assure that it was not Bill Clinton income that HRC used.

[havocmom]

19. Some of us are sure we don't want Obama campaign to pay Bill Clinton back

And LOTS of THEIR $$ is from her work/investments too. She is hardly in the same boat as McCain, living off spouse's wealth.

[karynnj]

24. I wasn't implying that

In fact, for most of their marriage it was HRC who was making the big bucks.

What I was pointing to was the media hypocrisy of watching the Kerrys, the most honest of the 3 couples, like a hawk to insure that THK did not contribute more than what was allowed and then ignoring the Clintons and the McCains.

[havocmom]

29. ANd I was pointing out that compairing Kerry to Clinton financially was just plain silly

Kerry's wife is not a well heeled drug abusing bimbo. McCain's wife seems to be just that.

Kerry's wife did not really seek the job of First Lady from way back when. McCain's wife seems to have been after the job all along and using a military son, grandson and POW/glamorous pilot as the vehicle.

Kerry's wife worked with charity because she could do some good that way. McCain's wife raised money to buy drugs for those in need and then stole some for herself. She used her 'charity' work as a cover for her less admirable side.

She is on the table.

[verges]

22. So, what did she see in him?

"It is as likely that McCain was drawn to a gorgeous 20 something when he was in his 40s than that he married her for her money." So what did she see in a much older, unattractive, boken-down, MARRIED man?

[karynnj]

25. He was considered a hero at that point

and she may have seen him as powerful. My point is that it is wrong to claim he married her for money - I wasn't there - and I doubt others here were either. There are plenty of things to attack him on - attacking his marriage is wrong. (I hated the wjc and HRC are a marriage of convenience as well - for the same reasons)

[havocmom]

23. interesting link

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x3454201

[karynnj]

27. You put this in response to me - is there an insinuation?

It is completely unrelated to what I posted. But, if it was an insinuation - I was never employed by the government or by a candidate - ever.

[havocmom]

28. Just thought it was an interesting link

We see such a weird variety of things posted, I thought you would get a giggle out of why some of it is there.

Why so defensive? :shrug:

[karynnj]

30. Not defensive - I have never lied about anything

with regard to my background - just mystified because it was one of a couple of responses from you. It seemed just weird - do you often post random unrelated stuff. That's usually consider a bit weird. Therefore, I assumed it could have been intended to send a message and wanted to counter it immediately.

[Stinky The Clown]

31. I know you won't buy this, but .......

...... the intent of the OP was not to cut Kerry down, but rather to point out that both he and John Edwards were castigated by the Right Wing for their personal finances, but that Johnny Boy McCain seems immune to it.

I'm sorry you read it as a slam on your guy. It could, admittedly, be taken that way. That wasn't the intent.

[Lefty48197]

9. His wife's family got rich selling drugs.

.

[AngryOldDem]

10. Credit? n/t

[blondeatlast]

11. Why doesn't McCain have an "anti-smear" campaign like Obama? I just figured it out.

Because virtually every allegation that's been made against him is all too easily provable.

[JVS]

13. John "Gigolo" McCain

[SoCalDem]

16. Dumped his first wife for a rich "chickie"

Of course now she's stuck with a frail old man..

[jesus_of_suburbia]

21. This is a sexist post. It was wrong in 2004 and it's wrong in 2008.

[Stinky The Clown]

32. Oh jesus ..... everybody's offended by somethng.

[YDogg]

26. thanks for the image of cindy mccain riding her husband

:puke: