The Tire Gauge Gimmick Far More Dangerous Than You Might Think--And How to Defeat It

[kurtboss]

You may not have thought much about the silly tire gauge gimmick, but it has the potential to be a real game changer in McCain's favor...which is why they're pushing it. Think about what the biggest single issue in Nov is going to be--gas prices. Where is Obama's greatest strength economic and environmental policy. McCain appears to be screwed.

So they work hard to figure out a way to trivialize Obama's advantage. They needed something simple. They wanted it to be provocative and yet silly. So, they took a quote out of context about filling tires and hit upon the idea of the Obama tire gauge. They have run with it since and will continue...unless we realize its danger and kill it.

How to kill it? Simple. Obama gives out his own Obama branded tire gauges...maybe with a disembodied smiling McCain face on it? He jokes about borrowing it from McCain and holds it up, saying it's a great idea, glad McCain stole it, BUT I SURE WISH MCCAIN WOULD TAKE THIS MORE SERIOUSLY.

Here's why it will work:

A. It assumes most people haven't paid close enough attention yet to get the mocking/trivialization

B. It confuses the source of the symbol thereby defusing the potential negative impact (which is actually potentially quite damaging as it seeks to diminish Obama with THE IMPORTANT ISSUE of this election...gas prices).

C. It has all positives for it, no real risks/negatives as the GOP is already pushing this like crazy (putting it on their website, McCain showing one off), now they're selling them