How To Stay On Message And Not Really Say Anything

By default, we are a "visual" culture.

If we see it, it makes sense and we believe it.

That being said, Republicans, conservatives, lunatic-fringe bloggers and pundits, talk-radio prattle-heads, and Fox"News" are seriously in love with the tire-gauge right now.

And over the weekend, Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty, still auditioning for the role of VP, took to using a tire gauge as a prop.

Pawlenty a few minutes later pulled a prop out of his pocket.

“Barack Obama stood up at a speech recently and said that one of the things that is really important from energy policy from his standpoint is to check the pressure in our tires, so here’s a tire gauge and you can go out in the parking lot here and check your tires. Now, that’s an interesting thing — we want you to have good pressure in your tires, you know, it will very mildly add to your fuel efficiency — but checking the air pressure in your tires is not an energy policy for the United States of America,” Pawlenty said.

Once again, those of us that function in the logical world, the real world - those of us that understand the difference between a "gimmick" and a fact, those of us that know what the word "context" really means are able to clearly see and understand what Obama is talking about can see this for what it is - common sense.

But, let's take for instance another example.

Skin Cancer

McCain emphasized that skin cancer is preventable, and implored Americans to wear sunscreen, especially over the summer. What’s wrong with this advice? Not a thing. It’s a smart, sensible thing to say.

But imagine if Obama and his surrogates said the entirety of McCain’s healthcare policy is sunscreen application. McCain doesn’t really care about cancer, they could argue, he just wants everyone to run out at get some SPF 30. Those vying to be Obama’s running mate started holding up bottles of Coppertone during their speeches, saying things like, “We want you to wear sunscreen, you know, it will very mildly improve your chances of not getting sick. But wearing sunscreen is not a healthcare policy for the United States of America.”

This, of course, would be insane. And yet, that’s pretty much what’s become of Republican campaign rhetoric of late.

The "tire gauge" meme is nothing more than some barely-clever talking-point that is used to charge-up the conservative base. It doesn't solve a problem, it doesn't even address the issue. It's 4th grade recess-humor disguised as political-discourse.