John McCain’s Gas Gaffe

Lately, when I read about the silly mistakes, mangled interviews and bumbling comments of our presidential candidates, I’m used to seeing Barack Obama stumbling over his tongue. This story, however, found John McCain coming down with a momentary but severe case of foot in mouth disease.

When was the last time you pumped your own gas and how much did it cost?

Oh, I don’t remember. Now there’s Secret Service protection. But I’ve done it for many, many years. I don’t recall and frankly, I don’t see how it matters.

I can save a lot of space in this piece by simply letting James Joyner say what I was already thinking.

I get that McCain is sheltered from many of the mundane details of everyday life because of his position. It wouldn’t bother me in the least if he didn’t know how to operate a modern gas pump. Nor would I expect him to know the price with the specificity that those of us who pump it regularly do. But, given the amazing amount of attention this issue has gotten in recent months — so much so that he’s pandering about “gas tax holidays” and the like — it’s not unreasonable to expect him to answer with something like, “It’s been so long since I pumped my own gas that I don’t remember what it cost. But I do know that it’s now over $4 a gallon and people are pissed.”

Much to my disappointment, the Democrats have failed to deliver a coherent energy policy this year. Their future plans hold much promise, but they do not, in my opinion, adequately address the gap we need to bridge through the rest of this century. Even the lovable Bob Barr has not forumulated a specific plan. McCain has been the only one thus far to speak up on energy policy, which I still feel will be the number one issue in this election. The last thing he needs is the media endlessly replaying a sound bite making him sound completely out of touch with regular Americans and the pain they feel each time they gas up their cars.

Does this do anything to change the respective energy policies of the candidates? No. But in our media oriented campaign environment, this was a poisonous misstep. Summon the damage control teams to the ramparts.