"I have a aggressive goal of reducing carbon emissions, and coal is a dirty fuel right now." -- Barack Obama, on last Sunday's Meet The Press.

Well this kind of undoes a lot of the praise we've heaped upon Barack Obama over the past few weeks for refusing to go along with John McCain and Hillary Clinton's inane gas tax holiday proposal. It appears Obama can indeed pander for votes without shame. Just look at that big smile in this campaign flyer! He's a real working-class kind of guy.

We initially thought this was a forwarded joke, but as Grist reported this morning, it is an actual mailer from the Obama campaign in Kentucky, which by the way is one of four states yet to hold its Democratic primary.

There's a lot not to like about this flyer, starting with the fact that "clean Kentucky coal" is a total oxymoron. Yes, there are coal plants that use Integrated Gasification Combine Cycle (IGCC) technology to capture and store emissions underground. The problem is there isn't a single carbon capture and storage (CCS) plant in all of Kentucky.

Obama has always walked a fine line on coal, especially given that this home state of Illinois is such a large producer. But this flyer makes it clear he's willing to say one thing (like two days ago on Meet The Press) while giving a not-so-subtle wink to states where the industry still booms. We know the country still depends on coal for 50 percent of its electricity -- we just don't like the mixed messages.

Perhaps Obama needs to take his stump speech to eastern Kentucky next week, where he can see the mountaintop removal, polluted streams and rivers, and sick children firsthand. And then someone can ask him about his definition of "clean."