Obama Continues to Push on Gas-Tax Gimmick [w/poll]

Obama has started pushing back hard on the transparent attempt by Clinton and McCain to pander to voters. He's going after them in speeches, and now he's using the internets to prove his points.

First, the pushback.

Meanwhile, Obama once again stated his opposition to such a holiday while also campaigning in Indiana. "This isn’t a real solution. This is a gimmick," he said. "And this is what Washington does whenever there’s a big problem. They pretend that they’re solving it to try to get though a political season but they don’t really solve it. And unfortunately, after John McCain made the proposal ,I guess Sen. Clinton thought it was gonna poll well, so she said, 'Me too, I’ll do the same thing.’ and so now it’s the McCain-Clinton proposal to suspend the gas tax.

He then said, "You know people are more concerned about looking good for the cameras and for politics than they are at actually solving problems. You remember when George Bush five years ago put up a big sign in front of an aircraft carrier saying ‘Mission accomplished’ in Iraq. I’m sure they thought that was good politics. Except five years later we’re still in this war in Iraq."

TNR approves.

It's sounds even more effective than I imagined it would. (Note the implicit tying of McCain and Hillary to the war, too.)

Now, the pushback moves to the internets, where the campaign is using an internet tool to let voters see this ploy for the sham it is.

Senator Clinton and Senator McCain continue to push for a gas tax holiday, despite a chorus of experts who have criticized the plan and commended Barack for opposing it (see here, here, here, here, and here for just a few).  

The website Jabberwonk created an online "Gas Tax Holiday Calculator" that lets you estimate your own potential savings, while at the same time pointing out the potential costs:

[snip]

According to the Jabberwonk calculator, someone who drives 100 miles a week would save an estimated $13.80 in tax relief over the 15 week "holiday." You can calculate your own savings here, and then can read Barack's plan to address energy policy and tax relief in America.

Link to the Jabberwonk site here.

I saved about $7 for the whole summer. Huzzah! Now this is all good, but I think Obama needs to continue to hit them HARD on this issue. I have no doubt that the Clinton campaign will continue to shamelessly push this issue. Obama needs to go hard after what this gimmick really means, or he could get snowed over by this.