The Republicans this morning continued mocking Obama for his comments in Springfield, Missouri last week, in which he suggested Americans keep their tyres properly inflated as a way to conserve energy.
After sending a note to reporters offering a free tyre gauge as a way of drawing attention to Obama's comments, McCain campaign manager Rick Davis later this morning sent out a fundraising plea asking supporters if they had checked their tyres.
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Davis writes:
John McCain says we need offshore oil drilling and we need it now. Senator Barack Obama has consistently opposed offshore drilling - calling it a 'gimmick.' Senator Obama's solution to high gas prices is telling Americans to make sure their tires are inflated.
Today, I'm asking for your help in putting Senator Obama's 'tire gauge' energy policy to the test. With an immediate donation of $25 or more, we will send you an 'Obama Energy Plan' tire pressure gauge. Will simply inflating your tires reduce the financial burden of high gas prices on your wallet?
It's clear Senator Obama has no plan to address the energy challenges we face as a nation. He has said no to offshore drilling, no to expanding domestic drilling and no to nuclear energy. He has no plan to reduce our dependence on foreign oil.
John McCain is prepared to lead our country as president to break our dependence on foreign oil with real solutions. John McCain believes we should lift the federal ban on offshore drilling, enabling you to decide where we drill for oil.
But John McCain won't be able to enact these policies without your help in electing him as our next president.
The Republican party has a history of belittling attempts to encourage personal conservation. In a May 2001 speech in which he raised the curtain on the Bush White House energy policy, Dick Cheney dismissed conservation as "a sign of personal virtue, but it is not a sufficient basis for a sound, comprehensive energy policy".
In a clever reversal, the Obama campaign responded by sending out maintenance tips from that Republican bastion, auto-racing league Nascar, that suggest keeping tyres at the proper pressure.
The article is entitled "Tire maintenance key to safety, fuel economy".
UPDATE:
The Obama camp just sent out another note calling attention to an "Energy Saver$" tip sheet published by Bush administration's department of energy.
Under the heading "Car maintenance tips", the brochure advises Americans:
Keep tyres properly inflated and aligned to improve your gasoline mileage by around 3.3%.
Assuming a car that gets 25 miles to the gallon carries a 15 gallon gasoline, that amounts to an extra 12 miles per tank. Not bad.
