Before we tire of tires, remember that Obama was right

August 5, 2008

After yesterday’s mind-numbing inanity about tire gauges — yes, in the midst of the most critical presidential election in a generation, Republicans have made tire gauges a central focus of a presidential race — I’m hoping we can begin to move on to something at least resembling substance.

But before we do, it’s worth noting that Barack Obama was not only right about the value of routine auto maintenance, he was also right about the added efficiency benefits.

To briefly recap, Obama mentioned to voters in Missouri that there are things individuals can do to help conserve energy, including bringing their cars in for regular tune ups, and keeping their tires properly inflated. He added that the amount of energy to be saved by routine auto maintenance is comparable to the savings we’d get from the GOP’s coastal drilling policy.

The McCain campaign and unhinged conservatives everywhere began to argue that keeping tires inflated was the sum total of Obama’s energy policy, which, of course, is insane. To a lesser extent, some on the right argued that Obama had exaggerated the potential efficiency benefits associated with tire care.

The first point, obviously, is demonstrably ridiculous. The second point, it turns out, isn’t true either. Time’s Michael Grunwald sets the record straight.

[W]ho’s really out of touch? The Bush Administration estimates that expanded offshore drilling could increase oil production by 200,000 bbl. per day by 2030. We use about 20 million bbl. per day, so that would meet about 1% of our demand two decades from now. Meanwhile, efficiency experts say that keeping tires inflated can improve gas mileage 3%, and regular maintenance can add another 4%. Many drivers already follow their advice, but if everyone did, we could immediately reduce demand several percentage points. In other words: Obama is right. […]

The real problem with the attacks on his tire-gauge plan is that efforts to improve conservation and efficiency happen to be the best approaches to dealing with the energy crisis — the cheapest, cleanest, quickest and easiest ways to ease our addiction to oil, reduce our pain at the pump and address global warming. It’s a pretty simple concept: if our use of fossil fuels is increasing our reliance on Middle Eastern dictators while destroying the planet, maybe we ought to use less.

The RNC is trying to make the tire gauge a symbol of unseriousness, as if only the fatuous believed we could reduce our dependence on foreign oil without doing the bidding of Big Oil. But the tire gauge is really a symbol of a very serious piece of good news: we can use significantly less energy without significantly changing our lifestyle.

It creates an odd dynamic — conservative Republicans want Americans to believe there’s nothing individuals can do; they should just wait for the government to allow additional coastal drilling.

Grunwald added the right actually has this entire issue backwards.

[T]hings like tire gauges can reduce gas bills and carbon emissions now, with little pain and at little cost and without the ecological problems and oil-addiction problems associated with offshore drilling. These are the proverbial win-win-win solutions, reducing the pain of $100 trips to the gas station by reducing trips to the gas station.

The AP added the Department of Energy estimates that keeping tires properly inflated can help improve gas mileage by about 3.3%, and the notion that inflated tires represents the totality of Obama’s policy is plainly false.

Besides the recommendation to keep tires properly inflated, Obama also suggested providing incentives for people to trade in gas guzzling vehicles for more fuel-efficient cars; investing in research and development to produce new fuel-saving technologies like long-running batteries; encouraging innovation in alternative energies; and retrofitting buildings to make them more energy efficient.

I was talking to a friend of mine yesterday about all of this, and he said I was overly concerned with facts and truths. Republicans win elections because they don’t care — in a case like this, the only thing anyone will remember is the stunt/prop, not the fact that they were blatantly lying and blatantly wrong.

That may very well be. Indeed, it probably points to a vicious cycle — Republicans make up a lie. We point out how insane the lie is, and feel better about being smarter than Republicans. Voters, not knowing better, believe the lie. Satisfied with the reward, Republicans feel encouraged to make up a new lie, which again leads us to point out how insane the lie is….

I suppose the lesson to be learned here is that Dems, if they want to win, need to lie more?

That’s the most aggravating thing about the election. Not that Republicans use lame stunts, but that they use them so well while the Democrats have so many potential targets (I believe you mentioned McCain’s cancer policy of applying more sunscreen) and fail miserably.

  • As I stated in a post a day or so ago: We are Americans, we consume, we don’t conserve. Any hint we should sacrifice or use less is unAmerican. The choice from the Rep point of view is does the government create more or fewer opportunities for America to consume. With the Repubs, more is better. It is like going shopping to fight the terrorists.

  • I, too, am struck by the fact that conservatives should be pushing actions that individuals can take in their own interests that would have a collective benefit. That is the theory of conservatism.

  • I remember thinking, “I got a great line for the Democrats. Talk about how McCain’s offshore drilling plan would contribute nothing to oil production for a decade but would provide ‘psychological relief’ and suggest that must be for the ‘mental recession’ we are having.” I mean this stuff writes itself!

  • That is the theory of conservatism

    Nope, the theory of conservatism is Retain Power, No Matter What May Come.

    And perhaps the Dems will have to resort to the same spectacularly vile methods: McCain Fought for the Nazis in WW2!!

  • I don’t get it either. However, that being said, I’m afraid it is getting more traction than any of us would have ever predicted– hopefully Obama will learn a lesson from this and come up with a silly, albeit symbolic, gimmick of his own to mock McCain with. That really is what McCain’s recent onslaught of anti-Obama ads has been about– making a mockery of Obama and keeping him on the defensive.

    We’ve all been anticipating swiftboating from an “independent” group, meanwhile it looks like McCain is doing it himself. It’s early enough that this can be turned around but allowing it to go much longer on means that we’ll have President Mccain come January. McCain needs to be exposed as the non-serious, out-of-touch candidate that he truly is– he needs to be recognized as the real life equivalent of Mr. Burns.

    Is it just me, or does Obama seem to fighting this all alone these days? Every time I turn on the tv Romney’s fake smile is filling the screen– where are all of Obama’s surrogates?

  • Dems spend too much time trying to explain themselves and fail. We all figured in 2004 that all we had to do was to point out the problems and people would eventually understand. They didn’t. These simple props and kindergarden arguments are working for republicans, they have worked in the last two elections, and they will probably work again. Republicans are criticized for living in the past and not taking advantage of new technologies well enough. But repubs DO understand the short attention span of the average American, which is about 10 seconds. This approach works, and dems need to learn from this. Kerry wanted to explain and go into detail on everything, and W just kept saying “Terrist! Danger! Wolves in the Woods!” and that was enough for him to win again. Rove and his gang will continue to have the last laugh until dems learn to talk to the average American.

  • he said I was overly concerned with facts and truths. Republicans win elections because they don’t care — in a case like this, the only thing anyone will remember is the stunt/prop, not the fact that they were blatantly lying and blatantly wrong.. . .

    I suppose the lesson to be learned here is that Dems, if they want to win, need to lie more?

    No, we do not need to lie. In part because the Republicans have given us so much material that is stranger (and more damning) than fiction. But to look at how Republicans win – and lets all acknowledge that they do – and see only the lies misses much of the point: how those lies are delivered. In tawdry, mean-spirited, gimmicky, undignified ways. But ways that are, perhaps because of those traits, memorable. We argue wonky policy, they create “watercooler moments.”

    We do not need to lie, but we do have to (a) get much, much more aggressive about hard-hitting truths and (b) we have to learn how to disconnect our brains and deliver a message from and to the gut, to the heart, to the raw emotions. Democrats don’t lose because of an unwillingness to lie – that remains an asset. Democrats lose because of an unwillingness to be emotional rather than rational. (Ironic, no? Liberals are supposed to be the sensitive new-agey folks while Conservatives are supposed to be stoic and macho – yet Republicans do electoral emotion much, much better).

    Part and parcel of delivering a more visceral message is that our strategists need to spend more time watching network television – and sitting through the commercials. What the masses are used to isn’t Masterpiece Theater – it is dimwitted double-entendre and scatalogical, stereotyping humor divided every few minutes with what should be insulting advertisements that generally have little to do with what is being sold and everything to do with an identity and a lifestyle.

    Can you say that about many Democratic political ads? No. We try to sell the product. Republicans sell attraction or aversion to an identity. “Sure Democrats may have better ideas, but if you’re a Democrat, you’re a wussy geek that no one likes.” Sounds stupid, but has won more elections than I can count.

    We don’t need to lie, but we do need to be willing to use tactics we think are unsavory to get the truths across (or get into areas like image and identity where there are no “truths” to begin with). We need to learn to move people viscerally, not intellectually. We analyze the Republican campaigns intellectually and can’t understand how they work. We’re working in the wrong language. The Republican campaigns are solely visceral, base even, and they work very very well.

    Unless we learn how to do the same thing, we may never win a meaningful election again. The public at large is getting less intellectual in its politics, not more, and our campaigns get more and more out of touch.

  • zoe – I agree. Where is the orchestrated effort on the part of dems? Repubs are everywhere with their tire gauges – everywhere! They even have customized lettering making fun of Obama printed on them. Come on dems – get out there! Dean will give a message or a phrase or a prop, and every single dem who goes on a talk show or gives a press conference will get one.

  • Orange, McCain was too old to fight for the Nazis in WWII. I think he was fighting for the South in the Civil War.

    Steve, the problem isn’t that we need to lie more, the problem is that the media needs to tolerate lying less.

    But of course the media has litigated the issue, and they won the day. The courts ruled that the media has the right to distort the news.

    “Fox [and other media corporations] asserted that there are no written rules against distorting news in the media. They argued that, under the First Amendment, broadcasters have the right to lie or deliberately distort news reports on public airwaves.”

    “December 1996, Jane Akre and her husband, Steve Wilson, were hired by FOX as a part of the Fox “Investigators” team at WTVT in Tampa Bay, Florida.to investigat bovine growth hormone (BGH), a controversial substance manufactured by Monsanto Corporation.”

    “Fox executives and their attorneys wanted the reporters to use statements from Monsanto representatives that the reporters knew were false and to make other revisions to the story that were in direct conflict with the facts. Fox editors then tried to force Akre and Wilson to continue to produce the distorted story.”

  • As stupid as the attacks have been, the polls keeps getting narrower. Zogby now has McCain up by 1. This is feeling more and more like 2004: we ridicule the attacks because they’re so patently false and stupid, but that’s all people see and it works. Man, I’m getting depressed.

  • Why doesn’t Obama take the criticism and run with it? MAKE the tire gauge the symbol of his campaign. Use it to make the point that while government has to help people, they have to help themselves as well. Let the Republicans who have, for years, claimed that this was the right way of thinking about government, defend why they are criticizing it in this case.

    Don’t back away from it, embrace it, and use it on the Republicans — I’m still not sure what a tire gauge looks like, but the pictures I’ve seen give me an obvious image.

  • Lie more???

    Nah.
    We just need sophomoric props.

    The GOP has bought them for us.

    All we have to do is offer stars to stick on the tire gauges to make them into the magic wands Dubya says he couldn’t find to wave and bring gas prices down.

    Corny, but maybe that’d be good enough theater for news/entertainment to pick up?

  • Somehow, the vision of Obama showing up at Baldwin Wallace today, holding up a GOP-issued tire-gauge as an emplem of just how out-of-touch the Mccainians have truly become, keeps popping into my head—and it reminds me of that classic photograph in which Truman holds up a newspaper with the headline: DEWEY DEFEATS TRUMAN.

    These nex-gen Bushylvanians don’t just want to lose; they want to die political deaths. Horrible political deaths. There-ain’t-no-comin’-back-from-this political deaths that make a classic Billy Graham crusade fire-n-brimstone sermon look like a Wallace and Gromit cartoon.

    And I have to admit, it couldn’t happen to a more deserving bunch of feral feces….

  • Steve:
    I’m 43 (yes a kid still) and can’t remember an election where stunts, props and lies were not a central part of the Republican campaigns…yes I’ve seen Dems use it too…although usually more creatively 🙂 You are getting yourself all worked up over a freaking tire gauge stunt that actually was kind of creative given the group think that came up with it. Obama would do well to repeat the 3% over 1% truth and no, not lie more. There is a change happening in the electorate…I feel it..I’ve looked it in the eye and have seen it’s soul…it’s tired of the lies…you watch.

  • “Voters, not knowing better, believe the lie”

    In that case, America deserves what it gets since the tiny percentage that actually votes are so easily swayed by such nonsense. Until Democrats learn that you can’t bring a knife to a gunfight, nothing will change.

    On gas prices: “This is the FREE MARKET you guys love so damn much!”
    On the GWOT: “Keep screaming for more wars they won’t fight in”
    On Taxes: “Lower taxes = Less Government Services”

  • TomB – As we have said many times before, these people ARE NOT conservatives.

    These people are radicals, they are authoritarians, borderline facists, well finananced, and in control of the Corp Media.

    “Fascism should more appropriately be called Corporatism because it is a merger of state and corporate power.”
    Benito Mussolini

  • two simple facts: (1) the people who shift their stated voting preference in the current shifting polls are not die hards and can (and will) be brought to the Obama column upon (2) its the debates stupid. This leads to another binary notion: (1) you want your candidate to be the one with unjustified doubts going into the debates such that he will smash that doubt and (2) it is a good thing that the press is not now calling McCain the polite equivalent of “senile” because that would give McCain a chance to over perform at the debates.

    The two historical equivalents are Reagan in 80 showing he was not a boob and Bush 43 overperforming the ridiculsouly low expectation levels in the press.

    Obama will be the 2008 Reagan, and right now McCain is not properly set up to be the 2008 Bush.

    It is that simple. When people see them side by side all that empty suit, he’s just rhetoric, big ol’ celebreity stuff will be washed away.

    Plus you always want to peak later to create the impression of momentum.

    I would be much much much more nervous if Obama was up big because then the press and McCain would pummel him so that as the election neared he would be losing ground. My god the screams would be deafening then!

    relax.

    eric

  • So, what’s the cute (and actually useful, heck, the tire gauges *are* at least useful) prop that we could use for every time they lie? Then we’re not manufacturing lies (although I admit that I see the appeal more and more each day), but we could ridicule theirs — another “there you go again” sort of thing.

    Ummm, useful items that could have a “don’t you believe it!” theme…

    whisk? they’re whipping up another lie?

    See, I’m not good at this at all!

  • Wow. When did the GOP become the proponent for the government taking the role in every aspect of your life? Weren’t they all for personal responsibility? Weren’t they “the government is evil and should be next to nothing” party? Weren’t they the ones who were supposed to cut spending?

    Oh, right…the oil companies spend how much on lobbying? And there is alot of American soil to be leased!

    More do as I say politics.

  • the key takeaway from Racer X @ 10 is that we cannot count on the media changing. It will continue to reward the Republican sophomoric strategy because gimmicks are easy to cover – they have visuals, they are punchy, the generate controversy, and the media has been beaten into submission in terms of actually challenging conservatives (wouldn’t want to be called ‘liberal,’ after all!)

    and Ronald, while I wish I could agree with you, I see no actual evidence that the electorate is tired of lies. i, too, have a feeling. what i feel is the “change election” balloon deflating. where is the energy that buzzed around the Obama campaign all spring? the “movement” for change, for HOPE, seems to have suddenly dissipated. several theories: (1) Team Obama had had a hard time changing gears from primary to general and is not at the top of its game right now; (2) the media got tired of the Change/Hope meme and is no actively ignoring it; (3) the Republicans have done a maddingly good job of shrinking Obama; (4) as the economy got even worse, it was easy to scare people into wanting the devil they know instead of the possible change agent they don’t – “change” turns out to be a political luxury good – we all want it when we feel secure enough to handle some change, but we are easily scared away from it at the slightest hint of threat (to analogize: in a big city for the first time, it may seem fun midafternoon wander off the beaten path, but as the sun goes down and we see groups of youth huddled on desolate street corners, we may find we prefer main streets again).

    i don’t like the polls, i dont like the “feel”

    perhaps it is because i have this bias from doing litigation, but i firmly believe that setting the framework for discussion is 90% of the battle. whoever sets the narrative, the storyline, the agenda has a huge advantage. right now, Team Obama is not in control of the narrative and they are not setting the agenda most news cycles. That more than anything has to change and change soon or the polls will continue to get worse. the huge rallies and cries of hope and change used to set the narrative and capture news cycles all by themselves. the newness has worn off and Obama cant count on that anymore. they need to find a new way, quickly, to get on top of the agenda and get ahead of the curve and capture attention so they are driving.

  • zoe from pittsburgh said:
    Is it just me, or does Obama seem to fighting this all alone these days? Every time I turn on the tv Romney’s fake smile is filling the screen– where are all of Obama’s surrogates?

    Obama is not alone, but he may as well be. The two surrogates that I’ve seen most often are:

    — John Kerry – a lousy candidate and a mediocre thinker who will never use one word if he can use ten instead, and

    — Tom Daschle – a vertebrally-challenged wimp who starts to compromise before the other side finishes stating their position.

    Maybe there’s something to this “cult of personality” thing. It’s hard for someone who has been smarter than everyone around him his whole life to trust others to speak for him. But Obama needs to find some surrogates who aren’t afraid to mix it up with conservatives and “journalists”. I’d suggest Barney Frank and Russ Feingold. Any other suggestions?

  • I suppose the lesson to be learned here is that Dems, if they want to win, need to lie more?

    Steve, if the rest of the media was like you – that is, beating back the smears and pointing out the lies as soon as they’re made – the GOP would stop lying.

    Great job, BTW. I wish you were more widely read.

  • Why not use a hand drill? Then you could add the line “McCain says we can drill our way out!”

    How can we solve the gas crisis? “McCain says we can drill our way out!”

    How can we solve the health care crisis? “McCain says we can drill our way out!”

    How can America regain its standing in the world? “McCain says we can drill our way out!”

    Iraq? “McCain says we can drill our way out!”

    Afghanistan? “McCain says we can drill our way out!”

  • From Uniroyal regarding tire inflation:

    Uniroyal offers these gas savings tips that could add up to $750 in annual fuel savings:

    Check the inflation pressure of your tires. Most Americans are driving around on under-inflated tires. You need to check your tire inflation pressure “cold” (at least three hours after the vehicle has been stopped and before it has been driven one mile) and adjust accordingly. It is best to inflate your tires in the morning before the day’s heat. The proper inflation pressure can be found in the vehicle owner’s manual or on the placard usually on the doorjamb. The pressure indicated on the tire sidewall is the maximum pressure allowed, not what is recommended for your vehicle. This simple step can save up to 6 cents per gallon. “Making sure tires are properly inflated is one of the easiest and most important maintenance procedures drivers can do,” says Kaz Holley, Uniroyal brand director. “Properly inflated tires not only contribute to greater fuel efficiency, but also last longer and perform better.”

    Another big factor is proper wheel alignment. Making sure your vehicle is properly aligned can save as much as 11 cents per gallon. Your local Uniroyal dealer can assess your vehicle’s wheel alignment.

  • Sorry but Obama really needs to back off from this one. This is the type of advice I would expect from my Grandmother or a AAA brochure. My tire pressure? I assume that my mechanic deals with it when I get my oil changed. I suspect most Americans fall in that category. I probably own a tire gauge, but I doubt I could find it within the next ten minutes. This isn’t the type of leadership that Americans are looking for, no matter how *factually* correct it is.

    Recall a few years ago when Barbra Streisand recommended that Americans hang their laundry out to dry as a way to conserve energy. Yes, you could argue that it could save X amount of energy. It was a factually correct argument. It also came across as somewhat disconnected from the reality of our lives.

    You can also remove unused seats in your car to increase mileage. Drive 50 mph. Take the first parking spot you see instead of driving around for a spot close to the door. Replace your air filter. Replace your fuel filter. Keep your tank at least 1/3 full. How many of these are you going to respect on a regular basis? These are common sense things that we know, and yet we hardly do them. These *tips* I would expect in a Hints From Heloise column, not from a candidate for President.

  • zeitgeist: I understand your setting the framework point from a litigation persepctive. But we are not in litigation. Politics is an expectations game. If the other side says you are an idiot and everyone comes to expect you to be an idiot, then you win if you can demonstrate that you are not an idiot. It shows your strength and implicitly undermines yoru opponents credibility. In litigation terms it is “overpromising and underdelivering” in your opening statement.

    eric

  • Real men drill. Girlie men fiddle and fuss with sissy tire gauges. The image is overpowering. Give it up. The more we defend this girlie thing the sillier and more effeminate we look.

    Real men don’t talk to their enemies, they defeat them. And that’s the drilling thing in a nutshell – McCain has won, Obama has compromised. The Republicans haven’t compromised on anything this Congressional term. They’ve defeated virtually every Democrat (sic) initiative. Who gets the blame? The wimpy Democrats. It’s the most unpopular Congress in history, and even less popular than Bush. What an accomplishment! Get beat up by the Republicans and then get blamed for it, all while you have the majority. Amazing.

    McCain is surging. Let’s not rationalize the poll results into more ineffectual campaigning. McCain’s tactics are producing results.

    What to do? The Democrats have to learn how to fight, and go on the offense. It doesn’t seem we ever get the ball. The Republicans score, then we apologize and kick off to them. Granted, the Republicans play dirty, because they don’t care about anything except winning, and they’ll therefore do anything to achieve their goal. That is tough to defend against. But we do have the issues on our side. With some spine and guts and concerted effort, we ought to be able to prevail.

    But what we’re doing now isn’t working, and Obama is losing, and he may become a drag on that huge Congressional majority we’re counting on. And that windfall profits/rebate pander could backfire. I don’t like it, and I’m a liberal. And the strategic reserve thing – sounds like desperation to me. All of it pandering to our addiction. Where’s the leadership? He’s pandering to the mob now, isn’t he?

    It ain’t looking good from my vantage point.

  • Jesus, what a bunch of nervous nellies !
    The tire guage means that they have nothing on energy right now.
    The “celebrity” thing means that the Obama foreign tour worked for Obama.
    They got slapped down by the media for the attempted lie on wounded troop thing.
    They have been advertising heavily in swing states while Obama has been advertising in weak red states and the results have been that McCain is gaining in the swing states.
    There is some meaningless movement in the tracking polls, which makes for a good lead on cable news shows.
    Their goal, right now, is to demoralize Democrats with a combination of bitch slaps and stupid ploys. When they run a stupid ploy (like the tire guage), they get a lot of media play in a slow season. But what do we do? — we panic and moan and talk about how our FELLOW CITIZENS are so stupid that they are going to fall for this kind of stupidity. The message that gets communicated is that liberals are weak, feckless and convinced that average voters are so stupid that they deserve the government that we get.
    Toughen up, folks. People see through this kind of crap.
    Don’t let the GOP into your head, where we believe that they have magical powers of sheep herding — it isn’t true and it insults the sheep.

  • I was depressed reading the first several comments. More lib drivel. Then I got to Dfx and the sunshine of logic burst through. Market forces are already at work and will cause the “tire pressure”, “slow down”, etc. automatic fine tuning from folks who are aware. However, the real answer is in drilling now, more nuke power now, exploit the shale now and increase alternative energy technology as we go until it can actually become a partner in enhancing the American economy. We will be a third world power if the environmentalists get their loony way.

  • I agree with Zoe and Don – where are the other surrogates for Obama? Can’t his campaign dig up a Nascar driver to do a public service ad about tire pressure equalling better gas mileage? Does the corporate press just not include footage of Democrats any more unless they have something snide to say about Obama?

    John Kerry needs to get over his loss and stop trying to sabotage Obama.

  • hark said:

    Real men don’t talk to their enemies, they defeat them. And that’s the drilling thing in a nutshell – McCain has won, Obama has compromised. The Republicans haven’t compromised on anything this Congressional term. They’ve defeated virtually every Democrat (sic) initiative. Who gets the blame? The wimpy Democrats

    And that’s the taking point I’ve been waiting to hear:

    John McCain is distorting the facts again. He’s saying that Barack Obama’s entire energy plan consists of telling Americans to check the air pressure in their tires.

    The truth is, Republicans have blocked every energy the Democrats have tried to pass. Republicans have filibustered subsidies to promote the use of wind and solar power. They’ve filibustered money for research into new energy technologies. They even refused to allow a vote on a bill that would take away the 86 million acres that the oil companies are sitting on and lease them to someone who will drill for oil there.

    it’s hard to tell whether John McCain doesn’t know the facts, or if he just doesn’t care.

    But does it really matter?

  • I get it. Conservatives are actually writing these comments that appear to come from the libs to make libs look stupid. It’s working. Everyone knows that correct air pressure improves gas mileage, don’t need NASCAR stars to tell us. The point is that Obama, libs and environmentalist wackos offer those solutions instead of real solutions. Sure enough either the libs are stupid or the conservative comments in their name are just making them look that way.

  • When the demos succeed in taking away the oil leases from the oil companies, I sure hope I get some so my 5 year-old and I can start drilling. Jeez!

  • To create the proper narrative, Obama should run ads that show Republican opposition to something as simple as checking your tire pressure proves that they are opposed to any energy policies that do not increase the profit of Big Oil.

    The GOP, a wholly owned subsidiary of Exxon.

  • As for the surrogates, I rarely criticize Team Obama (oh, you noticed that) but using Kerry is idiotic. It was Kerry that beat Kerry, not Bush and not Rove. And not just by being a lousy, wooden, dull candidate, but by letting himself be pushed off message (assuming he HAD a message, and assuming he’d say it and risk being unable to deny he was a liberal) by the swift-boating. He did respond, despite the myths. Maybe he responded TOO MUCH, because he had nothing else to say after “John Kerry, reporting for duty!” He wouldn’t challenge Bush, he wouldn’t call him out — not once did he hit him as hard as the Obama ‘in the pockets of big oil’ commercial hit McCain.

    But more importantly, how can you have someone out there fighting against McCain when everybody knows Kerry wanted to make McCain his own VP.

    But more importantly, where the hell is Hillary? When everybody was falling all over themselves rushing to praise her not-quite-concession speech, when everybody was forgetting her upstaging of Obama that Tuesday, when everybody was turning a blind eye to the guns her former supporters were (figuratively) pointing at her head, I insisted that she wouldn’t get a free pass from me until she started attacking McCain, until she actually said “he is NOT qualified to be President.”

    “Oh, she’s promised to campaign for Obama, she’ll be working for his reelection, she’s doing just what she is supposed to.”

    Really? When? I’m still waiting. She’s going to give this greatwonderfulmarveloussuper speech at the Convention. Judging from her ‘track record’ I hope she remembers to mention Obama a couple of times while she’s pointing out her own achievements, and remembers how to pronounce his name.

  • Tom in Ma said:
    Jesus, what a bunch of nervous nellies !
    The tire guage means that they have nothing on energy right now.
    … we panic and moan and talk about how our FELLOW CITIZENS are so stupid that they are going to fall for this kind of stupidity. The message that gets communicated is that liberals are weak, feckless and convinced that average voters are so stupid that they deserve the government that we get.
    Toughen up, folks. People see through this kind of crap.

    If the people had been able to “see thought this kind of crap” in 2000 and 2004 I wouldn’t be such a “nervous nellie”. And those elections didn’t have the race issue.

    I talk to a lot of people who despise Bush and are still leaning toward McCain. They say that they don’t “trust” Obama, when in fact they seem like they’re just looking for any excuse not to vote for him because he’s just too “different”.

    Remember the Republicans only have to keep this race close until November. Then Diebold and the Republican Justice Dept. can work their magic again.

    Those who forget the past are doomed to repeat it.

  • When all is said and done, who would Osama, Chavez, Ahmadinejad, Moqtada al-Sadr, Kim Yong-nam, Sheikh Ahmed Yassin and Ted Kennedy vote for? Get the idea?

  • Tom in Ma (@30) thanks. You seem to be awake and paying attention. Too many of the other commentators have been so mesmerized by the ‘liberals are loser’ meme that it was the Democrats — not the Republicans — who drilled into our head that they are getting their excuses ready already.

    Fortunately for the country, they’ll never need them.

  • v racer – all but Chavez & Kennedy would vote for McCain. He’d continue Bush’s policies that has benefitted every radical in the MidEast. Bush also allowed Kim Jung Il to finally get the bomb, so North Korea is probably pulling for the Republicans, too.

  • I agree with Prup (aka Jim Benton) @12 that Obama can use this to his advantage by taking the issue away from McSame. Basically, congratulate McSame on handing out tire gauges and tell him to hand out more so that every person that gets one can check their pressure and save themselves a few bucks. In other words, be glad that they are handing out tire gauges and encourage them to hand out more. When the McSame campaign sees that Obama is making good use of their last gasp trick, the American people may see that the Replican’ts just have nothing.

  • A free tire gauge? With my candidate’s name on it and a reminder that he’s got a more detailed energy policy? I’m headed over to my local McCain HQ to see if I can get one.

  • v racer said:
    The point is that Obama, libs and environmentalist wackos offer those solutions instead of real solutions. Sure enough either the libs are stupid or the conservative comments in their name are just making them look that way.

    I know I shouldn’t feed the troll, but sometimes I just can’t help myself.

    What, exactly, are the Republicans suggesting?

    Using more coal? Nineteenth century coal-fired steam engines? Seriously?

    Building 45 more nuclear plants? More Republican irresponsibility. How can we build more nuclear plants when we don’t have anyplace safe to put the radioactive waste that current plants create?

    And of course, more tax cuts for oil companies, because Republicans are SURE (wink, wink) the oil companies will invest ALL that money on new technologies and finding new oil sources. It’s not like they’d use their highest-EVER-in-the-history-of-the-entire-world profits to buy back their stock to boost the stock’s price.

    v racer , if you’d read something other than a Republican talking point memo — like maybe Barack Obama’s website — you would find he has a comprehensive energy plan for the 21st century. Personally, I think Obama’s plan isn’t ambitious enough, but it’s a decent start. And it’s miles ahead of anything your Republicans have proposed.

    Now go away, you’re embarrassing yourself.

  • The multiple messages from this prop comedy act are actually very serious. The GOP has always ignored ways to conserve energy and in fact have always looked for ways to waste as much energy as possible. More profits of course! They have gone on a rampage against Obama even though with some fact checking Obama is 100% right and is backed by energy policy from the Bush administration and even public service announcements from NASCAR. God forbid the country would start acting responsibly and do anything other than burning more energy to fill the oil companies pockets with cash. The Republicans are not men and women but children who are always looking for a new toy and cash handouts from their rich uncle, the oil companies.

  • We just need sophomoric props

    How about a tire gauge? Seriously. The Obama camp should reown this one. Maybe change the wording to “part of Obama’s energy plan”.

  • To be fair, Grunwald’s assessment assumes that 100% of oil is used to make gasoline whereas that number is more around 50%, depending on refining efficiency. Any calculations on savings of gasoline would at least have to be halved when converted to savings of oil. Even so, Mccain’s tactics are just juvenile and mocking a legitimate path towards energy efficiency.

  • I want to be clear that I support initiatives to conserve gasoline, but the tire gauge issue is not going to win new supporters to Obama. That picture would be the equivalent of John Kerry windsurfing in 2004.

  • I suppose the lesson to be learned here is that Dems, if they want to win, need to lie more?

    No. We need to tell the truth at least as many times as they tell the lie.

    As Dems are now, we correct each of their lies once for every 100 times they tell it. Dems and Dem pundits all need to coordinate and get on the same page with their talking points the same way that Republicans and their pundits do. For example, notice how so many on the right got in on the tire gauge thing yesterday…even the right-wing AP told the lie in yesterday’s “news” article about Obama’s energy proposal “Inflating tires is part of Obama’s energy plan.”.

    We don’t have to lie. We can win with the truth if we coordinate with each other (like they do) to get the truth out there and work as hard on the truth as they do on the lies.

  • Benen, no the Democrats do not need to lie. They need to tell the truth better. And louder. And snappier, in soundbite or bumpersticker form. And Molly Weasley and I suggested yesterday what several others are suggesting today, thank McCain and the Republicans for the tire gauges, they are something we can all use right now to lower our personal gas usage.

    But yea, better surrogates please, ones who fight and grant no quarter to liars. More tenacious pit bulls please.

  • Does Grunwald have any critical thinking abilities? He pulls the 200,000 bbl number out of thin air (ANWR alone is good for 300,000 a day in 2030, but 780,000 in 2018). He then misleads by assuming that 100% of crude oil is converted to automobile gasoline (it’s less than half, as a poster above pointed out). He then implies that every car will automatically see the 3.3% efficiency increase.

    Then to further illustrate how litte he understands the problem, Grunwald trots out the tired mantra of using CFLs and unplugging phone chargers. Unused power converters draw milliwatts of electricity. These savings are drops in the ocean.

    But hey, who cares about numbers? If Barack says we can easily switch to plug-in cars and while reducing electrical consumption, who am I to question? Hope! Change! We believe!

  • GW The first part of your post are numbers constantly manipulated to fit any side of an argument. But the last sentence makes no sense. Energy providers have stated over and over that “plug-in” cars will easily fit into the grid with no changes to equipment and the trade off of electricity used and gasoline saved is huge. You sound like a oil lobbyist.

  • Jeez, I guess I may be the onnly one who thinks Obama should hold firm on this. “Yeah, keeping your tires properly inflated and aligned, simple auto maintenance, will SAVE more oil than we’d generate than if we DRILLED. It’s not the Republicans don’t understand this, it’s that they don’t WANT to understand this. The OIL COMPANIES don’t want you to understand this. Because if you’re conserving, you’re not buying! And if you’re not buying, they’re not making as much money! They want the consumer to consumer as much as possible, while they get huge tax breaks to eventually start drilling for oil in new places while ignoring all the land they already own where they can already drill!”

    “How shocking that the political party that’s most closely affiliated with Big Oil would go to these ridiculous and stupid lengths to convince you that drilling for more oil – AND ONLY drilling for more oil – is the solution to our problems. I’ve got sad news for all Americans: With the current group of GOP leaders, gas is always going to be higher than it ought to be. We consume more oil? They’ll charge you more because it’s in demand. We consume LESS oil? They’ll charge us more, claiming that it’s now more of a luxury item, like the fancy $425 shoes John McCain likes to wear. Only by becoming more responsible with energy, only by demanding alternative sources of energy, will the price eventually become manageable.”

    “My opponents like to laugh at concepts ‘think globally, act locally.’ That’s because, if we all started to think globally and act locally, many of them would probably need a new job, because they wouldn’t be getting as much from the oil companies. I know you are all very busy, working hard, trying to keep your families together, getting your cars tuned up (haha). But please, I implore you, take a second to think about the people who are making up dopey rumors about my energy policy – that it’s ONLY about tire gauges, that I refuse to do anything to help American suffering with the price of fuel – and then ask yourself What do they have to gain by getting you to believe such ridiculous stories.’ The answer is obvious: They stand to gain the White House, IF you fall for their lies. For your own sake, for the sake of your children and the next seven generation, don’t.”

  • Not too late for the Obama campaign to put together a similar device.

    For a $5.00 donation you get:

    An empty box emblazoned with the words McCain’s __________ (fill in the blank)
    Policy

    Blank: energy, economic, Iraq, Iran, Climate Crisis, Infrastructure, Tax, Jobs, Whatever

  • With ReThuglicrats making fun of Obama by selling over-priced tire gauges, I think Obama should make fun and take the ball a little down the field by putting out their own tire gauges, with a little American flag on the end. Obama could wear one in his jacket pocket and poke right back at the ReThugs: Yes, using a tire gauge CAN help you save gas and is a patriotic thing to do.

  • I love it– Republicans openly OPPOSE COMMON SENSE and think liberals are crazy. Then they pretend that Dems have no other ideas other than this– are you able to read? Or are you proud of being willfully ignorant?

  • Next they will say that Obama said he invented the internet. Seriously trying to have a rational discussion with Republicans is like trying to have a nice chat with a 3 year old on the latest advances in Aviation, Republican= “yuhah, he said cock-pit”

    When will they grow the hell up?

  • I think this is new, but in any event St. Pete Times has a “Flip-o-meter.” So far it only has a few items, but perhaps they will begin to uncover the french curve in Hon. Sen. McCain’s straight talk.

  • dfx@27 and hark@29 have a point, but Obama really hasn’t reacted much. (a good thing.)

    Fortunately, our grandmother and the AMA would tell us to put on sunscreen so “Ace” McCain is guilty of kvetching too. They ALL do it! Oops, we said we wouldn’t fall back on that.

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