Cars of National Politicians
How can you determine the character and personality of your favorite presidential candidate, or favorite politician? What better way to see how their comments measure up to their lifestyle by looking at the vehicle that they drive? Just for fun, lets look at the primary cars (or SUVs) of a few politicians that have currently been in the limelight. The first thing to notice about all of them, unlike many of the rest of us, are that they are all American Company cars. Not a Toyota, Mercedes, or Honda among them. (Of course, since Mercedes is now owned by Daimler Chrysler, the whole situation gets a bit confusing, but we will forge ahead.)
Let's start off with the Democratic party, and look at some of the nationally known figures here, as well as the two remaining candidates for the presidential race. John Edwards drives a Ford Escape hybrid, as does Al Gore. This American-made car gets 35 miles to the gallon highway, 30 miles to the gallon ends the city. It is a middle-class vehicle that would blend these men in with much of their constituency. The first full SUV that is also a true hybrid, which means that it runs on electricity at lower speeds (typically 25 mph and below), and gas fuel at higher speeds. The switchover point is determined automatically by the vehicle. This won a Truck of the Year award in 2005.
Barack Obama drives a Chrysler 300. This car is a lovely car, but only gets about 21 miles to the gallon. Looking at the average miles per gallon for the American industry as a whole, this car certainly does not help in the average fuel economy for its owner Daimler Chrysler. On the other hand, the comfort and ride of this car is a good bid for Chrysler to start on a "return to glory" road, as it is one of the more popular current choices for a sedan. Since Daimler Chrysler also runs Mercedes-Benz, a number of the mechanicals are derived from Mercedes technology, and the ride and performance make this evident.
Hillary Clinton and her campaign did not specify what vehicle she drives, but the family vehicle is a Mercury Mariner hybrid. The interesting option in this vehicle was an extended back seat for more leg room, and a mini fridge also installed in the car. The choice of this car is an interesting reflection on Mrs. Clinton's views of fuel efficiency. She is calling for a minimum of 40 miles per gallon for cars by the year 2020, and 55 miles per gallon by the year 2030. The Mariner claims to get the same fuel efficiency that the Fort Escape hybrid does, which is again 34 miles per gallon highway.
On the Republican side, John McCain drives the Cadillac CTS, and has chosen the V-6 model. As anyone that drives the Cadillac knows, this is a powerful, responsive car. It gets 27 miles to the gallon highway, and about 18 miles to a gallon in the city. A suitable choice for a moderate politician, agreeable to both the successful businessmen that support him, and a compromise between the gas guzzler and the green cars.
Mike Huckabee, the former Arkansas governor, drives a Chevrolet Tahoe flex fuel automobile. The ratings for the flex fuel, in terms of gasoline miles per gallon, is about 33 highway, about the same performance as the Escape hybrid.
This summary of candidates, politicians, and their vehicles hopefully make an interesting light political discussion over the work water cooler.
8:19 AM
|
Labels:
national,
politicians
|
This entry was posted on 8:19 AM
and is filed under
national
,
politicians
.
You can follow any responses to this entry through
the RSS 2.0 feed.
You can leave a response,
or trackback from your own site.
0 comments:
Post a Comment