Obama replies on tire gauges

Barack Obama delivered a spirited, somewhat sarcastic response Tuesday to Republicans ridiculing his call for energy efficiency, including properly inflating tires to save on gas.

John McCain's campaign has been mocking the suggestion, and the Republican National Committee even made up tire pressure gauges emblazoned with "Obama's Energy Plan."

As the presidential hopefuls spar on energy policy, Obama told voters in Berea, Ohio, that experts agree that properly inflated tires would actually save a significant amount of oil.

"It’s like these guys take pride in being ignorant. They think it is funny that they are making fun of something that is actually true," Obama declared. "They need to do their homework. Instead of running ads about Paris Hilton and Britney Spears, they should go talk to some energy experts and make a difference."

Tucker Bounds, a McCain spokesman, responded, “Instead of calling on his party’s leadership to return to Congress and carve out an ‘all of the above’ approach to America’s energy crisis, Barack Obama would rather tell commuters to inflate their car tires. Barack Obama does not have the judgment or experience to understand that Americans aren’t choosing between offshore drilling and inflating their car tires, they’re demanding action now.”

UPDATE: The Obama campaign jumped on a comment McCain made Tuesday night, circulating a version that said: “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.”

In the wee hours today, the McCain campaign accused Obama's of selectively editing it, saying that McCain's full quote was, "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 spokesman Brian Rogers added, "As John McCain has said multiple times and said again yesterday: keeping your tires inflated is great, but Barack Obama's claim that this is a substitute for drilling as a part of a comprehensive energy strategy demonstrates his inexperience on the energy issue."

UPDATE: The Obama campaign is also trying to hit back at McCain by highlighting what he said about energy conservation during a campaign event in April:

“And I'm sorry to tell you that the price of oil -- as far as I can tell -- is not gonna go down anytime soon until we eliminate our dependency on it. We can do that as a nation -- we can turn out the lights five minutes earlier, we don't have to drive the extra block.”