Two more stories on GOP presumptive presidential nominee Sen. John McCain’s apparent aversion to the Internet hit the wires (or should we say “a series of tubes” a la his longtime colleague, the recently indicted Sen. Ted Stevens would say) this weekend.

The pieces, which appeared in the New York Times and Politico, concede it’s not really a surprise that, if elected, McCain doesn’t plan to poke, post and twitter his way through the presidency, and note that limited Internet literacy doesn’t necessarily impede McCain’s ability to run the country. As reporter Mark Leibovich writes in the Times: “Presidents can avoid using computers if they want to. That’s one of the privileges of the office. They are surrounded by a staff entrusted with keeping them plugged in, day and night.”

But the senior Senator’s approach to all things electronic is problematic in itself. The Internet and all its points of access have become central to everyday American life. For better or worse, we get our news, meet our mates, pay our bills and buy everything from clothes to cars to houses on the Internet, and we need a president who is in tune with our wired lives. (more…)