Kevin Burlingame goes off message!

I laughed out loud at this Boston Globe account of a Kerry photo-op in California. The cops shut down Interstate 5 for several minutes so that Kerry could address the press corps and a single customer at a gas station:

Kerry advisers released his proposals to lower gas prices in bits on Monday night and yesterday morning, and the unscheduled stop at the San Diego gas station hit a few bumps.

More than a dozen cars and buses, led by a fleet of police motorcycles, shut down Interstate 5 north and four lanes of traffic near the Shell station for several minutes so the senator could hold a photo opportunity for news cameras there. There appeared to be only one customer, Kevin Burlingame, for Kerry to talk to about the gas prices, which ranged from $2.15 to $2.37.

"What do you think of these gas prices?" Kerry asked.

"Boy, they are pretty high," said Burlingame, 38, who handles sales and marketing for his family business, which makes concrete roof tile. "We ship a lot of stuff so it affects every aspect of our business." He also told Kerry he was "very positive about the economy."

Asked by a reporter whether he thought a president could influence gas rates, Burlingame said, "He can introduce policy, but overall I don't think he can affect gas prices."

Now that’s a well-oiled campaign team. I’m sure the commuters on I-5 didn’t mind.