The Blog Formerly Known As Vote '08

From Reuters “Tales from the Trail” blog:

HUNTINGTON, W. Va - Republican John McCain appeared to back down on Tuesday in his dispute with his opponent Barack Obama over tire pressure.

Last week in St. Louis, Obama told an audience that steps such as inflating tires to the correct levels could make a difference when it comes to conserving fuel.

Cue gleeful mockery from McCain. Obama was naive, inexperienced and not talking straight to the American people about energy, he said.

His campaign went further, distributing to reporters tire gauges engraved with the words “Obama’s energy plan.”

Predictably, Obama hit back calling McCain’s mockery “ignorant,” arguing his plans were being misrepresented and saying that experts backed his call over tire pressure. Equally predictably, McCain’s camp hit back.

The surprise came during a telephone town hall meeting McCain held on Tuesday with voters in Pennsylvania.

“Obama said a couple of days ago says we all should inflate our tires. I don’t disagree with that. The American Automobile Association strongly recommends it,” McCain said.

But he kept up his broad criticism of Obama on energy: “I … don’t think that that (inflating tires) is a way to become energy independent.”

The United States’ energy challenges will be a central factor in the months leading up to the election. But when it comes to how far to inflate your tires, the air seems to have gone out of the dispute.

You can virtually picture his staff synchronously reaching for the Tums.

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Actually, I give McCain credit for going back to common sense. I mean, come on, even NASCAR endorses proper tire inflation. The losers in this debate are the Karl Rove proteges who have apparently taken over the McCain campaign, a development that should cause concerns among Republicans who were hoping for a debate among adults this year. Can’t McCain realize that voters wouldn’t turn away from him if he acknowledged something that he & his opponent could agree upon? This disagree-with-absolutely-everything-Obama-says tactic only coarsens the debate & diminishes McCain’s standing.

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