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John McCain’s Gas Gaffe

June 29th, 2008
By JAZZ SHAW, Assistant Editor

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FootInMouth.jpgLately, 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.



This entry was posted on Sunday, June 29th, 2008 at 6:58 am and is filed under Newsweek Blogitics, John McCain, 2008 Elections, Politics. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

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    My first reaction was like yours, and James Joyners...but then on rereading the question and his response I realized that all he really said was that he doesn't recall how long it's been since he last pumped his own gas nor how much it cost at that time. To spare himself the 'out of touch' backlash he should have added the last line that you quoted from Joyner- that he knows that the price has now hit $4/gal- but really this is much ado about nothing (as most of the political discussion about both candidates is these days, unfortunately.)

    Wake me when the debates begin.
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    I'm guessing you've not been in the service for a long time, Jazz. I remember going months without pumping gas, even when I was in port. When you aren't driving your own car, you don't pump your own gas.

    The fundamental fallacy of this as an issue is shown by asking the question: "When was the last time you lived for a week on the bugs you caught in your cell, Jazz?"

    McCain grew up as an Admiral's kid, but he's had his time being grounded.
 
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