This is probably the dumbest AP story I have ever read — and the Obama campaign is emailing it around. I mean, really. Who cares who purchased Meghan McCain‘s car? It’s all Cindy‘s money anyhow.

LANSING, Mich. (AP) — The head of the United Auto Workers union says Republican presidential nominee John McCain lost credibility by first saying he bought his daughter a Toyota Prius, then saying she bought it.

Ron Gettelfinger told reporters Wednesday in a conference call that motorists have a right to choose any car they want. He added that McCain should be honest about who bought the Prius.

McCain last year told a student in South Carolina that he bought the car.

But when questioned Sunday by TV station WXYZ in Southfield, Mich., McCain said, “She bought it, I believe, herself.”

The underlying issue seems to be John McCain not wanting to have appeared to have purchased a non-American made car — even one that’s better for the environment. Sheesh.

—Dana Goldstein

Dana Goldstein, a former associate editor and writer at the Prospect, comes from a family of public-school educators. She received the Spencer Fellowship in Education Journalism, a Schwarz Fellowship at the New America Foundation, and a Puffin Foundation Writing Fellowship at the Nation Institute. Her journalism is regularly featured in Slate, The Atlantic, The Nation, The Daily Beast, and other publications, and she is a staff writer at the Marshall Project.