Midday Open Thread

• Ron Paul is weighing in on the remaining candidates, saying that he prefers Obama over McCain.
• Gas prices have Americans stampeding to buy smaller vehicles. Unfortunately, it is another trend that American automakers are woefully unprepared for:

  "It’s easily the most dramatic segment shift I have witnessed in the market in my 31 years here," said George Pipas, chief sales analyst for the Ford Motor Company.

  The trend toward smaller and lighter vehicles with better mileage is a blow to Detroit automakers, which offer fewer such models than Asian carmakers like Toyota and Honda. Moreover, the decline of S.U.V.’s and pickups has curtailed the biggest source of profits for General Motors, Ford and Chrysler.

• An astounding 70% of Americans believe things are going badly.

  "Seventy percent is a lot worse than two years ago, when 48 percent thought times were bad and the Republicans lost control of Congress," CNN Senior Political Analyst Bill Schneider added.

• From Think Progress, more of the McSame from McCain and Bush:

  McCain’s staff and Bush’s staff talk ‘everyday.’ At a lunch hosted today by the Christian Science Monitor, former uber-lobbyist Charlie Black, who is a senior adviser to Sen. John McCain (R-AZ), said that McCain’s staff talks to the President Bush’s staff "everyday." Black also said that before McCain offered harsh words last week about Bush’s response to Hurricane Katrina, the campaign gave the White House a "head’s up."

• Seeking to reel in soaring rice prices, Thailand is considering an OPEC-style alliance of rice exporters.
• US Marine Merlin German passed away this week after surgical complications. In 2005, he was hit by a roadside bomb and survived with 95% of his body covered in burns.  His will to survive had become a source of hope and inspiration for many and he propelled that into creating a charity to help young burn victims and their families.