How Many Houses Does John McCain Own? McCain Himself Does Not Know.

In a spectacular gaffe that would be comedy gold were it not for the dire importance of the election this fall, here's John McCain on how many houses he owns (listen):

Q: How many houses do you and Mrs. McCain have?
A: I think, uh ... I'll let my staff get to you and tell you about that ...

Politico (who did the interview) reported it as:

Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) said in an interview Wednesday that he was uncertain how many houses he and his wife, Cindy, own.

"I think — I'll have my staff get to you," McCain told Politico in Las Cruces, N.M. "It's condominiums where — I'll have them get to you."

Interestingly, it actually is unclear how many houses he owns -- do you count the two luxury condos combined by remodel as one or two? how about the one ranch with three dwellings? -- but there's nothing in McCain's answer suggesting this thought process. He just said, "I don't know". (I counted six, though others have produced numbers as large as nine.)

Democrats smell blood. The new theme is that McCain is:

1. Out of touch at home.
2. Reckless abroad.

It seems to be effective, enough so that Obama has apparently delayed the VP announcement planned for today. A fine political day after the dismal polling releases yesterday.

UPDATE 8/22:

Here's yesterday's network news on the matter (hat tip). Ouch!