McCain's "rustic" cabin

Another interesting commentary from my favorite blog, Hullabaloo. I really don't want to see President McCain - he may be a decent man, but he is so Old School. There is much hang-wringing right now about the dew being off the Obama rose, but McCain has gotten a free ride from the press too (as the piece below makes clear) and when he gets under the microscope, I predict that his foibles will impact his poll numbers at least as much as it has Obama's. As for Clinton, who knows? It's still a "horse race" as they say. I agree with the oft repeated opinion that the Dems seem to have a penchant for snatching defeat from the jaws of victory, so I'm very concerned about the next few months, especially as the prolonged primary fight is getting both Democratic candidates a bit dirty. But there's plenty of dirt on McCain too and, while he's coasting right now, he shouldn't get too used to it.

http://digbysblog.blogspot.com/

Foser talks about the odd obsession the press corps has for Democratic candidates' finances while ignoring the finances of the much richer Mr and Mrs John McCain. He specifically mentions their descriptions of McCain's so-called cabin in Sedona as an example of the double standard:

[T]he news media -- McCain's "base" -- don't treat him the way they treat other (particularly Democratic) candidates. And so you probably haven't heard or read a word -- not a single word -- about John McCain's wealth during a news report about his tax policies. Indeed, you probably haven't heard or read a word about his wealth during any news report.

Certainly not during the recent wave of reporters gushing over McCain after he hosted them for a March 2 barbeque at his Arizona "cabin."The Arizona Republic described it as a "rustic cabin"; National Public Radio described it as a "weekend cabin"; The New York Times called it McCain's "cabin near Sedona, Ariz."; the Associated Press called it a "cabin"; and The Washington Post -- which devoted two articles to the barbeque -- agreed that it is a "rustic cabin."

If a presidential candidate cooking outdoors at his "rustic cabin" conjures images of Abraham Lincoln and a modest log cabin, that is no doubt fine with McCain. But McCain's "cabin" isn't quite like what you might imagine a "rustic cabin" to be. For one thing, there's a pool. For another, the cabin has a guest house and has been featured in Architectural Digest.

Now, there's nothing wrong with the fact that John McCain's cabin is so luxurious that it has a guest house out by the pool. Good for John McCain. But given the media mockery of John Edwards and John Kerry for their expensive homes, it's a little odd to see McCain's lavish home described so modestly as a "rustic cabin." Edwards and Kerry were lambasted as out-of-touch elites in part because of their houses; McCain's is described in the most favorable possible terms.