"We are running a better business because our competitors cause us to raise our own game," Wal-Mart CEO Mike Duke told The Associated Press in an interview.

The price war broke out a week ago, when the largest US retailer, Wal-Mart, cut some pre-order prices to $10.

Second, if these Washington insiders looked down on us in our Wal-Mart clothes, how could they ever relate to the Wal-Mart lives of most Americans?