Well, lightning is part of firebending, but I suppose you could make the same arguement that metal is part of earthbending then. So, we can say that she was bending two 'elements' at the time. Still, that doesn't change anything, since the Avatar was bending three. Lets subtract one from both and its still two elements against one. As I said before, Azula was doing exceptional against Aang in the battle on the drill, meaning that multiple elements doesn't really give one a serious trump if they are against someone particularly skilled with their one. That would be the same case as if Toph went against a Bumi 'suspected' of not knowing how to bend metal.

Now, how is Toph's ability to bend metal at a distance 'back on subject' as you say? Well, I guess the point can be argued, so lets just get onto it. I already covered this in my last reply and it seems you took nothing from it. The show has given no signs that metalbending will ever advance beyond physical contact. There may simply be no possible way to control it from a distance. But even if there is, that doesn't mean that Toph's blindness will help her master such a feat quicker than Bumi or another master could. If anything, her blindness only helped her to make the first initial jump to realizing that metal could be bent at all and only at a slightly faster rate than could probably be obtained by other masters without her 'blind seeing'.

In any case, people are stating Toph's little quirky advantages as if they'll make her an unstoppable force. Seeing through earthbending, able to bend metal while others are 'supposedly' unable to. She's a twelve year old girl, people! Bumi is over a century old, with the experiance, the wisdom, the skill and frankly a body that's in better shape than should be allowed for a person in the prime of his youth. He has the true abilities that matter. One bending art was never meant to be greater than the other. Fire, Earth, Air, Water. Throw in Lightning and Metal into that group if you want, they're all equal. The only thing that was meant to trully matter was the skill of those who wielded it and Bumi has that hands down.