McCain tries for a Hail Mary

Republican nominee McCain has decided that the best way to capture the imaginations and hearts of voters who want a president to end the energy crisis we're going through is to bullshit them with a new contest.

He's proposing an offer of $300 million dollars to the company that comes up with a better car battery, one that will outperform hybrids and reduce the need for oil.

Now, there are also two conflicting reports. Yahoo (linked above) states that:

In addition, a so-called Clean Car Challenge would provide U.S. automakers with a $5,000 tax credit for every zero-carbon emissions car they develop and sell.

CNN states:

The challenge would allow $5,000 tax credits to buyers of such cars, making such vehicles more appealing to consumers and thus easier to sell.

Whom to believe? Yahoo's AP report seems more along the lines of Big Business bought politicians. CNN's report seems to be the kind of fantasy line that presidential hopefuls say to get votes, and then don't follow through.

Nowhere in there does it answer any real questions about such a contest. Who would judge it? When would it take affect? How long is the contest going to run?

Who in their right mind is going to think that Big Oil is going to allow something like this to even remotely happen without a fight?

Why would we give up tax dollars to a person who would receive an unbelievable amount of money for the patents alone? As an incentive? I think that independent engineers have plenty of incentive in this economic atmosphere, and anyone capable of actually creating a new kind of battery, engine or fuel source that will be more efficient and economically progressive will do so, not because of a contest, but because in a capitalistic country, they're going to clean up.

McCain's support is floundering, and so he comes up with a marketing technique type of announcement to get him some air time and some sound bites. Well, it's working. Now we just have to see if American's are going to fall for it.