Harley-Davidson at centre of presidential row

White House wannabes fight it out over biker vote

WHOEVER WOULD have thought that Harley-Davidson would be at the centre of a presidential candidate's very public row?

Given John McCain's recent appearance in South Dakota at the Sturgis Rally, where he suggested that his wife Cindy entered the rally's topless biker babe competition, something which apparently went down pretty well, you may have thought that was itas far as bikers go in the race to the White House.

But now Barack Obama's people have decided that his campaign isn't going to give up the biker vote without a fight.

According to the LA Times, McCain, speaking at Sturgis, 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," he boasted, as dozens of cyclists revved their engines.

But now, Obama is airing a new radio ad in Wisconsin - the home of Harley-Davidson - attacking McCain's quip.

The paper reports that the on-air spot quotes McCain's Sturgis Rally 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."

The ad 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."

Oooooh, bitchy.