McCain’s Leisure Lies

Democrats are ripping Sen. John McCain for misrepresenting his garage, after Newsweek reported that some of the McCain family’s 13 cars are foreign — despite McCain’s claim that he “literally” always buys American. The McCains have 13 cars, the magazine also noted, while the Obamas have one.

This weekend, the Democratic National Committee organized a press call arguing that McCain’s diverging comments showed that he is not trustworthy (entire audio here).

“If we can’t trust John McCain on something as simple as what kind of cars he owns, how can we trust him when he talks about investing in American jobs?” asked Ron Gettelfinger, president of the United Auto Workers. “People are free to buy any kind of car they want,” Gettelfinger added, but McCain was wrong to think he can buy “foreign cars and then lie about [it] when he thinks autoworkers are watching.”

The attack hit its mark with the Michigan press, and, by Sunday, the Obama campaign was sending reporters clips of critical articles in the Detroit Free Press and The Washington Post.

A McCain staffer in Michigan replied by declaring that the GOP nominee is “a proud Cadillac owner.” You know it looks like a bad press week when you’re best defense is touting the candidate’s luxury car during an economic crisis.