As the ad campaigns intensified before tonight’s primaries, Hillary Clinton made the seriously Energy Dumb decision to promote a gas tax holiday as a way of demonstrating her supposed affinity for “the hard working American middle class.” Too bad the gas tax holiday won’t help anybody’s pocketbook but the oil companies. I guess Mrs. Clinton missed the memo from every single energy and economic policy expert out there! (Seriously, every one of them!)

While his opponent pandered for votes with empty promises of $30.00 in cash, Barack Obama, to his very strong credit, took the Energy Smart position and called the gas tax holiday proposal what it is: “a pander,” a cheap trick to buy your vote.

Here’s Obama’s clear, honest, Energy Smart response on the gas tax holiday (speaking on Meet the Press earlier this week)…

Well said Mr. Obama. Well said. Bravo for making this Energy Dumb gas tax proposal into an opportunity to talk about the urgent need to free America from our oil addiction and spark a clean energy economy.

I also think Obama deserves credit for openly stating he’d learned from a past mistake: Obama voted for a gas tax holiday in Illinois when he was a state senator and now openly acknowledges that was a mistake. The gas tax holiday was a failed policy in Illinois, and it’ll be a failed policy for America.

After 7 years of a President Bush who’ll never acknowledge a huge mistake (*cough*Iraq!*cough), I welcome a president who learns from his errors.

In contrast, Senator Clinton, who said herself that a New York state gas tax holiday proposal in 2000 would be “a bad deal for New York and a potential bonanza for the oil companies.” She had it right then. Now she’s get it wrong.

Obama learns. Clinton panders. Which do you think is a more admirable trait?