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Candidates inflate tire pressure debate

CHEN Democratic presidential candidate Senator Barack Obama talks with Carli Jurnee Anderson, 8, from Merriville, Indiana, during a campaign stop at Schoop’s diner in Portage, Indiana, on Wednesday. PHOTO: AP

Automobile tire pressure has become an unlikely issue in the US presidential campaign, as Senator John McCain mocked Senator Barack Obama’s recommendation that drivers keep their tires well-inflated — and then Obama taunted his Republican rival for admitting that the practice saves gasoline.

Both candidates have been vying to persuade voters that they have the best plans to bring down high gasoline prices, which top the list of US voters’ concerns. Most of the debate has centered on nuclear energy, offshore drilling and tapping strategic petroleum reserves. But on Wednesday, the talk was about tires.

Discussing the air-pressure issue during an appearance on Tuesday night, McCain said he was not opposed to Obama’s suggestion.

“And could I mention that Senator Obama a couple of days ago said that we ought to all inflate our tires, and I don’t disagree with that. The American Automobile Association strongly recommends it, but I also don’t think that that’s a way to become energy independent,” McCain said.

Obama had noted that keeping tires well inflated should be part of any comprehensive plan to reduce reliance on imported oil.

In mocking Obama, McCain said at a motorcycle rally in Sturgis, South Dakota: “My opponent doesn’t want to drill, he doesn’t want nuclear power, he wants you to inflate your tires.”

Obama seized on both McCain statements on Wednesday in trying to portray McCain as a flip-flopper.

It “will be interesting to watch this debate between John McCain and John McCain,” Obama said as he campaigned in Indiana with Senator Evan Bayh, widely considered a top-tier candidate for running mate.

The energy sparring continued as McCain criticized Obama for not fully embracing nuclear power as part of a comprehensive energy solution.

“He’s out of touch,” McCain said while campaigning in Ohio on Wednesday.

McCain called on Congress to return from its summer recess to address immediately the US energy crisis, though he missed numerous energy-related votes in the Senate last year.

As president, he would tell members of Congress “not to leave town, not to take their vacation or pay raise” until they passed legislation to ease the burden of high energy prices on consumers, he said.

The idea of forcing Congress to deal with energy issues could open the Arizona senator to charges of hypocrisy. The liberal-leaning League of Conservation Voters gave McCain a “zero” rating for last year, saying he had missed all 11 votes related to such critical energy topics as automobile fuel economy, offshore Virginia drilling, refinery construction, renewable electricity mandates, energy efficiency, liquefied coal and support for biofuels.

Last weekend, the House and the Senate adjourned amid calls from House Republicans for a vote on an energy bill that would expand more domestic oil drilling. In the Senate, a debate was pending on a proposal by a bipartisan group of 10 to boost taxes on oil companies while allowing a limited expansion of oil drilling off the coast of Southern states.

Both McCain and Obama have signaled an openness to such a compromise, but they say they need to review details of the proposal. Obama had earlier opposed offshore drilling, citing general agreement among energy experts that the new supplies would be years in reaching gasoline pumps.
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