Ah ha!

As if Obama’s “keep your tires properly inflated” energy policy wasn’t bad enough from a policy point of view; as if it weren’t bad enough from a political point of view (how many “hot air,” “blowing smoke,” “inflated ego” jokes can we get out of it?); now we get this:

On June 16, 2008, John Zimmerman, chief financial officer of Tomkins, gave nearly $7,000 in campaign contributions to Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. Lo and behold, nary two months later Obama's in Springfield, Missouri, suggesting drivers inflate their tires to save gas (and, by the way, curb CO2 emissions). Coincidence? We think not. Does it come as any surprise that Tomkins owns the Syracuse Gauge Company, which bills itself as manufacturing the "largest selection and variety of tools in the United States for filling tires [and] checking tire pressure"?

Of course the mainstream media ignored this development, leaving it to the blogosphere to bring the big money and big pressure of the PSI lobby to light.

It may sound ridiculous, but if the campaign finance reformers are going to insist that every contribution is a quid-pro-quo, then they can’t – can not – ignore this.

Of course, they will.

Hat tip Instapundit.