Obama is taking the wonky high road in response to the GOP's mockery of his tire-pressure advice, saying:
"It's like these guys take pride in being ignorant."
My gut says that, given the way shallow national politics works, Obama will lose this exchange and wind up sounding like a Dukakisian know-it-all. But I'm tempered by the example of his fight with Hillary Clinton over her empty gas-tax holiday proposal, which Obama (correctly) derided as a political gimmick. I figured Obama would lose that exchange because his position required more explanation and risked sounding smarty-pants-y. I seem to have been wrong about that, though, so maybe Obama really can turn the GOP's juvenile tire-gauge gags to his advantage. (And see Mike Grunwald on the substance here.)
P.S. I don't think we know for sure who won the gas-tax debate. It's true that in the days after it became a central Democratic primary isssue, Obama crushed Hillary in North Carolina and overperformed in Indiana. But the cause-effect was never clearly established, and I noticed that Hillary continued to press it in the waning days of her candidacy. Clearly the polls and focus groups were telling her something....
--Michael Crowley