The other day, I wondered about what would happen if the Obamabots actually took the day off to campaign for him.
I figured nobody would notice.
But, I’m now thinking I would notice.
There’d be nothing but American cars in the lot.
You see, I noticed some bumper stickers and window stickers on cars in some of the parking lots in Columbus (that’s Columbus, Georgia, by the way).
Most of the Obama stickers are on foreign cars. Or toaster-looking cars.
Most of the McCain stickers are on American cars or trucks. Mostly Chevrolet, by the way.
Now, this isn’t to say that all foreign car drivers support Obama. Nor that all Obama supporters drive foreign cars. Or that all American car owners vote McCain. Or… well, you get the idea. I’m not saying one equals the other. I owned a foreign car in the past. Once.
But I noticed that there appears to be a relationship. From the vehicles I’ve seen, most Obama stickers are on foreign cars, and most McCain stickers are on American cars.
I wonder why that is?
Given that my 2000 Pontiac has over 190,000 miles on it, and is cheaper to maintain than a foreign car, as long as GM produces something that matches my needs, I really see no reason to shift over. I’m tempted to make an exception for a few Hondas that are more on target for my requirements, but only if there is a marked difference.
BTW, my first cars were Fords. They were posthumously nicknamed Strike One, Strike Two, and Strike Three, respectively. At the time, their nicknames were Bleh, Chirper-Thud, and Ding-Magnet (Fairmont, Escort, and Probe). Chirper Thud was called so because one strut was not tightened all the way, so those were the sounds it made with small and large bumps, respectively.
No stickers on my car, though my vote for McCain in CA is most likely tilting at windmills.
If the left wins and unions get their way, I’ll work hard to never buy another union product again. That includes cars.
[The irony, though. Obama supported by unions who build cars. But Obama supporters buy foreign cars. McCain supporters, like me, buy American cars. What a world! – B]
Unfortunately I have a Toyota. It was the only one I could find for under $2,000. I regret it now… It sucks to have a care that barely moves faster that you can walk and has less room than an old pair of jeans that used to fit 20 lbs ago.
The wife drives an ’08 Accord. I drive a ’01 Chevy pickup. We both voted for McPain.
What about German cars? I mean, yeah, liberals will probably buy VW more (the National Socialist Party did invent them), but what about Mercedes and (maybe?) BMW? Obama supporters can’t afford those; they don’t have jobs.
I, myself, drive an ’85 Mercedes 300D, which is pretty cheap in general to buy, but I certainly can’t see any wimpy hippie or elitist college professor actually being able to take care of one of those. I don’t have any stickers, though, mostly ’cause I don’t want to ruin the paint.
Can you imagine the arrogant, lying, hypocritical and evil O’bummer driving this “car”
http://a.abcnews.com/images/Business/nm_tokyo_pixy_071024_ssh.jpg
He says he wants to spread the wealth around, we’ll all be resembling squashed bugs if we are forced by the communist doctrines of the o’bummer regime. Sickening. For the record, I adore trucks and one day will be driving one.
Now the only question is, who do people without cars vote for?
Proud conservative owner of a Toyota Tundra, former owner of a Toyota Corolla. The only American car I would ever buy would be a Dodge Charger. Don’t forget that most “foreign” cars, particularly the Japanese cars, are actually made in American plants. My truck was built in Princeton, IN.
LOL, I don’t know what it means except that the liberal illuminati secretly hate America?
Funny, I believe in free markets. If America is still polishing the same turds they were selling us back in the eighties, but now with new sheetmetal/plastic skin, I don’t want one. I used to have a GM card, but I cancelled it when I realized that GM didn’t make a single vehicle that I would want to own. Not one. Honda has perfected variable valve timing, meanwhile GM still poops out the same technology they’ve had for years, with a few subtle refinements. Take the old Chevy Lumina, the new Lumina, and the Impala, pop their hoods and they all look the same, down to the torque struts holding the engine in place. Pushrod V-6s are the technology of yesteryear. If GM is unwilling to invest in real innovation and put quality first, why should I be willing to invest my money in one of their cars? I’m not trying to troll this post, but for all the outcry about the bailout, do we not believe in a free market? (BTW, GM is trying to get bailout money as we speak).
[Oh, I believe in a free market. And, like I said, I once owned a foreign car. But the Chevrolet I drive? I love it! – B]
Kent – Too bad about that – Fords and Mercuries have come a long way. According to even Consumer Reports (which is generally biased according to mainstream beliefs due to its self-reporting nature) Ford now competes with top tier Japanese automakers for dependability and initial quality.
Unfortunately for me, as a GM fan, I have to be careful as to which platform I’m going to be purchasing. The Epsilons like your G6 have a good rep so far, especially the Malibu. Personally though, I want a new Zeta, either the Camaro or a G8 GXP.
I’m also looking forward to the new Caddy Alpha sedan being slotted to compete with the BMW 3-series. Considering the CTS-V blows the M5 out of the water in every performance category, I’m willing to bet the Alpha sedan is going to be sweet.
PS motopolitico – the newest (Gen IV) LS series V8s have variable valve timing. They also have more horsepower per pound than most DOHC designs. There is no new Lumina (unless you’re in the mideast). The 3.6L Direct injection V-6s (the LLT engines, used in Caddies and soon the Camaro – the LY7 is essentially the same except for DI, and it’s used throughout the Epsilon range) are as modern as any other engine available. The Ecotec four cylinders also have VVT.
The Volt is going to be the first series hybrid on the road. GM does innovate, and often, if you pay attention. As for Quality, the Chevrolet Malibu and Ford Fusion took top honors at JD Powers and Associates this year for initial quality, and the 2005 Buick Century took top midsize car dependability (Competing against accord & Camry).
To compare GM’s current crop of products to an ’88 Lumina is ridiculous. And if a 3100 pushrod V-6 looks the same to you as a 3.6L DOHC V6 then you need to get your eyes checked.
As a BMW owner, I’d agree that most Obama supporters drive foreign cars, but not usually nice ones. Why aren’t they driving quality union made automobiles?!
Sorry. Hard-core conservative driver of Japanese cars here.
I happen to favor things like quality, durability, value. These are things that come from hard work, responsibility, and lack of unions.
Thus, non-American cars are actually more American than American cars (made by socialist unions, as has been pointed out).
At least I drive a Mazda, which is 1/4th owned by a US company, i.e. Ford.
[No offense meant. I know conservatives that drive foreign (or, in your case, mostly foreign) cars. Like not everyone that smokes dies of lung cancer. But enough do to suggest a connection.
Hmm. I guess that didn’t make it any better did it? I’ll shut up before I do any worse. – B]
“Sorry. Hard-core conservative driver of Japanese cars here.
I happen to favor things like quality, durability, value. These are things that come from hard work, responsibility, and lack of unions.
Thus, non-American cars are actually more American than American cars (made by socialist unions, as has been pointed out).”
Yet the profits go oversea. I’m not impressed with jap quality and currently ford has #1 quality.
300k+ miles on my 2005 Ford Crown Victoria LX sport and loving it, and yes I’m the original owner!
I have very fond memories of a 1969 Ford Ltd.
My folks sold it to me for a dollar when I went off to college.
It was the first car my family ever owned that had air conditioning.
I have other reasons to remember that car but this site is PG13. (sigh)
Who are we kidding. If Obama wins we won’t be using cars. There won’t be any gas, any food, any electricity. Remember he’s against fossil fuels, nuclear power, coal, and any other kind of power except his own. Not to mention that if camel are good enough for the rest of the Muslim world they’ll be good enough for the “Great Satan”.
I wish I could think of something funny to say but the best I can do is that with Obama as President, Rush and the rest won’t run out of material forever.
seanmahair we’ll probably be living in our cars.
I saw a Toyota Prius the other day that had a McCain/Palin sticker on it. I half expected to turn around and find Rod Serling narrating.
Seguin, some of your points are well taken. But you seem to have conveniently forgotten the 3.4L DOHC turkey of an engine that was abandoned around 97-99 or so in favor of the 3800 pushrod V-6, and this was long after you could get VTEC in a Honda, and at the same time Mitsubishi was bringing its direct-injected Carisma to the worldwide market. There is something I need to take back, there is a recent GM I would consider buying, the Pontiac Vibe. Of course, it rolled off the same assembly line as the Toyota Matrix. GM made a valiant attempt at innovation with its Saturn line, and in their heyday they neared greatness, but now they seem to be in the business of rebadging vehicles built by other divisions, most notably Opel/Vauxhall. I really admired the lost-foam cast engines. Saturn should have been allowed to remain “a different kind of company”. As far as the Cadillac division goes, I still haven’t forgiven them for the Cimarron. Mercedes/ BMW don’t have such embarassments in their past (although Mercedes lately has been beating their cars with an ugly stick).
My McCain/Palin sticker is on the back of a 2004 Dodge Ram 1500. My last car was a Chrysler Sebring. Before that I had a Ford Contour. All good vehicles. Never had any problems. I have never owned a foreign car (except when I was in the Air Force stationed in Germany) and I never will. A woman down the street with an 0bama sticker has a Kia minivan. My sister has her 0bama sticker on a Kia as well. Another liberal Democrat friend (whose late husband was a union painter) traded in a Dodge Dakota for a Toyota Corolla (made in the US, but by non-union labor).
Sorry. I have two Hyundais and plan on buying a Nissan pickup if McCain wins. I love Detroit steel, but since 1973 they ain’t been up to snuff with the rice burners. It irks me to say this, but having owned two Dodges and a Chevy, they just aren’t worth the maintenance costs ( I place the blame squarely on union thugs and the gimme mindset of the pension system). Unless you have 30,000 bucks to spend on a car, you have to go with the Japanese or Korean models.
That said, the Obama cars in FC CO are Volvo, Subaru, Toyota Prius, Coopers and those stupid looking Scion Borg Cubes.
moto- I totally agree with you on Saturn. It was a fine opportunity to change their business that they lost – and they lost Oldsmobile in favor of it, which I thought had a beautiful set of cars with the Intrigue and Aurora…especially the Aurora. Why not hand off the Opels to Buick like they did in the 70s and 80s? Such a fine division had to die just for this failed experiment to take its place. Of course, I don’t mind poaching from GM divisions overseas…I love the Pontiac GTO and the new G8, rebadged Holdens though they are.
And I do remember the Z34 engine (in the Lumina in 91-94) – it was complicated to build, very fine sounding and performing engine, but it didn’t have anything really over the 3.8 except for its impressive spec sheet. Or did you mean the 3.5L Shortstar in the Olds Intrigue? Worked well, sounded rough. I also remember the Quad-4 DOHC engine which was nice and throaty, like an old Brit 4. Not forgiving Cadillac for the Cimarron (nee Cavalier) seems a bit harsh, especially when Mercedes and even BMW have severe dependability and quality issues right now – but I can understand the disappointment.
Of course, I subscribe to the “if it works, then screw the spec sheet” policy – I’ve been a fan of pushrods and flatheads my whole life, and until we get a displacement tax, I see no reason to abandon proven technology as long as it performs to my needs and expectations. And since I expect lots of low-end grunt high displacement pushrod engines actually suit me better. But GM still innovates, it’s just mostly stuff you don’t see – like how they build nowadays with hydroforming (the vette, solstice and sky, as well as the GMT900 frames).
How ironic! I live in Columbus, Georgia and I’ve noticed that too! I drive a 2002 Ford Explorer and will be voting for Palin. (Note: Not McCain. Palin.)
I guess we know who the true Americans are!
Proud conservative and die hard Asian auto fan here. Yes, we make better automobiles now than before, but I will never get over the sweet sound of my little 2L Nissan DOHC when I pop off a shift above 7.5k RPM. Plus I still can’t get over our absolute avoidance of manuals in mid-sizers.
I’ve watched UAW help destroy MI’s economy up close and personal. I won’t buy anything they had a hand in making, thanks.
Well, Frank, the facts back you up…
link
Although you did miss one detail – it’s not just foreign cars that are being driven by liberals, it’s CHEAP foreign cars.
For the record, I thought Prius was a good car before liberals did, but I thought charging twice as much for a car that basically was indistinguishable from the Toyota Echo econobox was stupid. I also didn’t think that anything with under 130 HP could withstand the tollways around here. I did get new respect for the Prius one day when I saw one being driven by an @sshole at roughly 90 MPH, although with the tiny tires on that thing I also wouldn’t want one in winter.
Lets face it, up north here there are some jobs that really require you to have a vehicle with a six cylinder engine and wide tires. In the snow, those jobs include “all of them that start at 9 AM or earlier”.
[You’re really trying to make Frank mad, aren’t you? But, thanks. – B]
Kent, you’re wrong about fat tires in winter. More likely to “hydroplane” than skinny ones. Gimme tall, skinny tires in winter. Hands down, the best winter car I’ve driven was my 99 Subaru legacy wagon. Skinny tires, 4 cylinders and totally unstoppable, even in unplowed parking lots with 3′ accumulation. Only had to stop because I couldn’t see from all the snow stacking on top of my hood. Then kept on going, didn’t get stuck. My main concern with the Prius is how low to the ground it is. I’ve driven my parents’ Prius on steep, icy Quebec City roads, and it did okay. Not stellar, but still not that bad.
My first new car ever I bought 10 years ago, and paid in full within 2.5 years. I’m still driving my 1998 Honda CRV, as it only has approx 52K miles.
Unless something drastically changes for the worse, I’ll buy a Honda again when this car dies in another 10-15 years, especially since I found out today that Honda is non-Union (and built in America).
And oh yeah, I’ve voted for the Republican candidate in every Presidential election since I’ve been eligible: 1984 to present.
And I never put bumper stickers on my car.