During CNN’s Wednesday night coverage of the Democratic convention, the network’s senior political analyst Gloria Borger poked fun of John McCain’s non-answer on the number of houses he owns. When host Wolf Blitzer pointed out that Borger owns homes in Washington, DC and in Montana, she confirmed, "Yeah, that's it, and I write the checks, so I know." (video at right)
One can surmise that Borger, through her snide one-liner, wanted to make the point that McCain is out of touch with the average American, a point frequently repeated by liberal pundits.
Borger’s remark came after an interview of Brian Schweitzer, the Democratic governor of Montana, during the 8 pm Eastern hour of CNN’s convention programming. Blitzer prefaced Borger’s question to Schweitzer by mentioning how she has a home in the governor’s state. Since Blitzer and Borger weren’t sure if Schweitzer could hear them due to the noise from the convention floor, correspondent John King relayed the question to the governor.
Once the interview was complete, Blitzer asked Borger his set-up question: "Let's just ask Gloria this important question -- how many homes do you own, Gloria?" Borger laughed and shook her head in response to the question, and after a few seconds of crosstalk, she gave her snarky reply.
The full transcript of the exchange between Blitzer and Borger, which came 20 minutes into the 8 pm Eastern hour of CNN’s coverage of the Democratic convention:
WOLF BLITZER: Let's just ask Gloria this important question -- how many homes do you own, Gloria?
GLORIA BORGER: (Laughs) I knew you were going to go there.
BLITZER: And we know that you have a home in Washington, DC.
BORGER: I know how many homes I own.
BLITZER: We know --
BORGER: I know.
BLITZER: We know you have one in Montana.
BORGER: Okay, okay, okay.
BLITZER: All right.
BORGER: Yeah, that's it, and I write the checks, so I know. (Laughs)
BLITZER: (Laughs) Gloria Borger knows Montana quite well.
