(At least) Seven Houses

MANIFESTO

With all the hubbub surrounding Obama's choice of Joe Biden today as his running mate, the news regarding Senator Septuagenarian's memory lapse anent the number of houses he and his sugar mommy own has kind of been forgotten. My suspicion is that this situation will pass and that the Dems will be all over this. Indeed, Obama has already indicated

"If you don't know how many houses you have, then it's not surprising that you might think the economy is fundamentally strong," he said. "But if you're like me and you've got one house - or you were like the millions of people who are struggling right now to keep up with their mortgage so that they don't lose their home - you might have a different perspective."

But there's obviously more to the episode than just an economic element. Indeed, as Newsweek's Andrew Romano puts it,

[T]he most important aspect of "seven houses" episode--the reason it matters more than the $5 million mess--is subtextual. The key is that phrase "out-of-touch." While Obama and Co. are openly attributing McCain's "out-of-touchness" to his wealth, it's not hard to imagine the Republican nominee's inability to keep track of his real estate holdings will subconsciously strike some voters as having to do with another, more penetrating personal attribute: his age. After all, the implicit contrast here is not between the candidate's bank accounts; Obama himself raked in more than $4 million last year. It's between their grasp of seemingly obvious realities. When nearly four in ten voters say they're concerned that you're too old to be president, being seen as "out of touch" has the potential to do even more damage than it did to John Kerry in 2004. At 60, the windsurfing wonder with an heiress wife and and handful of homes was merely "rich." I suspect that voters don't (and won't) see McCain--a former POW who lived through years of excruciating torture--primarily as a man of privilege. But they already think he's old. And in case you're wondering whether Team Obama is aware of the "senility" connotation, look no further than today's insta-ad. It says "asked how many houses he has, McCain lost track. He couldn't remember." That's a bit more loaded than "McCain wasn't sure."

God knows I certainly think this is among the most important issues of the campaign, and I've got to think that the PRERPREN will exhibit more of this kind of "forgetting" as the campaign progresses. The debates, especially, could show a real contrast between the quick-witted Obama and the obviously slower Arizona senator.

Having said that, however, I remember too well the demented performance of the country's 40th president at the first presidential debate in 1984 and the fact that he still got elected by a landslide.

UPDATE — Steve Benen comments on the age issue.