McCain playing energy as a reform issue? The NYTimes plays along?

Check this out. McCain comes out with a $300 million car battery gimmick

The Republican presidential nominee-in-waiting is proposing a $300 million government prize to whomever can develop an automobile battery that far surpasses existing technology....

"In the quest for alternatives to oil, our government has thrown around enough money subsidizing special interests and excusing failure," said excerpts from McCain's prepared text.....

"Different hybrids and natural-gas cars carry different incentives, ranging from a few hundreds dollars to four grand. They're the handiwork of lobbyists, with all the inconsistency and irrationality that involves," McCain said.

And this just happens to be the same day the NYTimes frontpages with a story alleging Obama is crooked on ethanol.

He also has advisers and prominent supporters with close ties to the industry at a time when energy policy is a point of sharp contrast between the parties and their presidential candidates.....

Mr. Obama, in contrast, favors the subsidies, some of which end up in the hands of the same oil companies he says should be subjected to a windfall profits tax.

Oh, and of course, after implying "advisers and prominent supporters" in the Obama campaign, this pertinent fact is buried in the 24th paragraph, 3rd from last,

Ethanol industry executives and advocates have not made large donations to either candidate for president, an examination of campaign contribution records shows.

Maybe I'm just too cynical, but this sure feels like more than a coincidence, especially with the McCain speech and the NYTimes article echoing the same language.

(I don't think the NYTimes wrote the article at the behest of the McCain campaign, but the language and type of detail sure smells like an article that started with an opposition research handout.)

So, does the press cover the McCain proposal as a great idea or as a gimmick? You figure the right pundits will rave, but will the refereeing anchors? McCain will again be setting the agenda.

(This comes to stomp on Obama's call to close the "Enron loophole.")