Another game of gotcha! targeting one of those out-of-touch, fat-cat Republicans who don't know how ordinary people have to live:
But when asked about more mundane matters — like the price of some basic staples — Giuliani had trouble with a reporter's question.
"A gallon of milk is probably about a $1.50, a loaf of bread about a $1.25, $1.30," he said.
A check of the Web site for D'Agostino supermarket on Manhattan's Upper East Side showed a gallon of milk priced at $4.19 and a loaf of white bread at $2.99 to $3.39. In Montgomery, Ala., a gallon of milk goes for about $3.39 and bread is about $2.
Giuliani was closer to the mark on the price of a gallon of gasoline.
"Gas, I think, is $2.89," he said
I don't know what a loaf of bread or a gallon of milk costs, either, so there goes my political career, I guess. It's not because I'm rich or care so little about getting value. I shop about once a week and buy mostly the same things -- the tab is always about the same, except that it creeps predictably upward. I know what some individual items cost, but not others, and it seems pointless to pay attention any more than that. I do have a better grasp of the cost of gas, because it's the only thing I buy when I buy it, and that makes the price stand out -- same for books, shirts and so on.
The notion that presidential candidates should exhibit an understanding of the afflictions and challenges of ordinary life is preposterous. These people have been in the profession of politics all their lives, which means they left the common experience behind a long time ago, and now they're going for the hghest rung on the ladder. Ask them about national security and their understanding of federalism and whom they might appoint to the Supreme Court. If they did exhibit an uncommon knowledge of the price of groceries, I'd worry about them, and it's extremely frivolous to even ask the question.
