Sometimes the differences between political candidates are nuanced. Sometimes they are stark. The number of cars owned by John and Cindy McCain versus the number owned by Barack and Michelle Obama fits the latter category.
…based on public vehicle-registration records, here’s the score. John and Cindy McCain: 13. Barack and Michelle Obama: one.
One vehicle in the McCain fleet has caused a small flap. United Auto Workers president Ron Gettelfinger, an Obama backer, accused McCain this month of “flip-flopping” on who bought daughter Meghan’s foreign-made Toyota Prius. McCain said last year that he bought it, but then told a Detroit TV station on Sept. 7 that Meghan “bought it, I believe, herself.”
McCain’s personal ride, a 2004 Cadillac CTS, is no gas sipper…
Only the Cadillac is registered in the candidate’s name. Cindy McCain’s name is on 11 vehicles, though not the one she actually drives. That car, a Lexus, is registered to her family’s beer-distributor business and is outfitted with personalized plates that read MS BUD.
Note her tag doesn’t say, “MRS BUD.” Interesting.
So what do Barack and Michelle drive? A 2008 Ford Escape Hybrid. With no vanity plates.
Is the head of the UAW really that stupid?
No protest of Obama driving around in his TOYOTA?
After all, the regeneration system on the Ford Escape is patented by Toyota and is the EXACT SAME system as that used in the Prius. The Transmission in the Escape is manufactured by a subsidiary of TOYOTA. ALL hybrid cars use this same transmission designed by TOYOTA.
The batteries used for the electric drive motors are manufactured by SANYO… last time I looked Mr. Gettlefinger, SANYO was a Japanese owned company.
Hybrid cars use far more electronics than conventional cars and last time I looked the vast majority of electronics are being manufactured in China, Korea and other far Eastern nations.
So just what percentage of that Ford Escape actually contains parts made in America by American workers?
I am willing to bet that the Prius than McCain’s daughter drives has almost as large a percentage of non-American parts in it as the so-called American Ford Escape that the Obama’s drive. America has become an assembly nation and even there, most cars sold by American companies are assembled outside of the USA. Last year NASCAR had four cars authorized to race on their Cup series. They were the Ford Fusion, Toyota Camry, Dodge Charger and Chevrolet SS.
The ONLY one of those cars actually assembled in the USA was the Toyota Camry. The Ford Fusion was assembled in Mexico. The Dodge Charger in Brampton Canada. The Impala SS was made in Oshawa Canada. The Camry is manufactured in Tennessee.
In 2008, NASCAR still only runs one USA manufactured car,the Camry.