Opinion: New Obama radio ad calls McCain a Harley-Davidson hypocrite

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John McCain’s recent appearance in South Dakota at the Sturgis Rally, America’s largest motorcycle convention, was by most accounts literally a roaring success. But Barack Obama’s campaign isn’t going to give up the biker vote without a fight.

At Sturgis, McCain ridiculed Obama for drawing ‘hundreds of thousands’ of people to an outdoor speech in Berlin. ‘I’ll take the roar of 50,000 Harleys any day,’ McCain boasted, as dozens of cyclists gunned their engines.

Now Obama is airing a new radio spot in Wisconsin -- the home of Harley-Davidson -- attacking McCain’s quip.

The spot samples McCain’s Sturgis joke and then calls the Republican a hypocrite for opposing a requirement that the government buy American-made motorcycles. ‘When it comes to his record,’ an announcer says, ‘American-made motorcycles like Harleys don’t matter to John McCain.’

In the past, McCain has opposed ‘buy American’ restrictions, which he has called ‘protectionist trade policy.’

The ad, which you can listen to at Talking Points Memo, closes with fighting words: ‘It’s time to hear the roar of the strong American economy again -- and stop John McCain from shipping our jobs overseas.’

The race for the White House just revved up.

-- Kate Linthicum