Campaigns save energy with hybrid cars. "This year's presidential candidates are trying to get good mileage out of getting good mileage. The candidates, who do a lot of talking about the need for greater energy efficiency, are not just asking who walks the walk but also, who drives the hybrid? John Edwards makes a point of telling people that after years of driving a regular sport utility vehicle, he and his wife bought a hybrid model to shuttle their kids, strollers, toys, luggage and other stuff between Washington, D.C., and North Carolina. Edwards, happy to promote his energy-efficient Escape, also still owns a 2004 Chrysler Pacifica midsize SUV and a 1994 GMC truck, according to state vehicle registration records." "Sen. Barack Obama (news, bio, voting record), D-Ill., says he usually drives a flex-fuel vehicle, which can run on gasoline or a cleaner-burning blend of ethanol and gasoline. But he acknowledges that sometimes it is not practical to fill up with the ethanol blend, known as E85." "Republican Mitt Romney, the son of a former Detroit auto executive, announced his candidacy while standing in front of a hybrid Ford Escape, which averages 36 miles per gallon in the city, and an old Rambler from American Motors Corp. Romney drives a 2005 Ford Mustang and his wife a Cadillac SRX SUV. The Mustang gets 17-19 mpg in city driving; an SRX about 16." "Republican Rudolph Giuliani gave an energy policy speech in New York last summer that included a pitch for greater use of hybrid cars. Idling outside for him was a Cadillac Escalade. He did, however, opt to walk to his next destination rather than ride in the SUV, which averages 13 mpg according to the government's fuel economy guide. His campaign refused to say what he is driving these days." (If the car was following him, in what way did his little walk save anything?) "Arizona Sen. John McCain (news, bio, voting record), a Republican candidate for president, drives a Cadillac CTS, which gets city mileage in the 15-17 mpg range, the guide says." "Democratic candidate Bill Richardson, the New Mexico governor and former U.S. energy secretary, made a big show in 2005 of giving up his gas guzzling SUV Lincoln Navigator for a hybrid Escape, proclaiming, "I believe I should lead by example." A few months later, the 6-foot-2 governor ditched the hybrid for a flex-fuel Chevy Tahoe LTZ after deciding the Escape was too small for him and his entourage, including a security detail. "I can't fit in it," Richardson joked. "It goes about 20 mph." The Tahoe averages 11 mpg in the city when using the E85 blend, and 15 when running on gasoline." "Hillary Rodham Clinton, as former first lady, rides in vehicles owned and operated by the Secret Service. At the Clintons' request, the fleet includes a Ford hybrid, according to campaign spokesman Phil Singer."
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(larkinmj @ Apr 1 2007, 03:14 PM) [snapback]416103[/snapback]</div> Sure they do. And they're right. If candidates were not fooling half the people all of the time, they'd get no votes at all. (The other half of the people are not fooled, and don't vote.) Nobody who wants to be president should ever be allowed to be. (I'm adding this to my sig. From Douglas Adams, of course.)
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(daniel @ Apr 1 2007, 06:51 PM) [snapback]416131[/snapback]</div> Or as the president more articulately put it, "There's an old saying in Tennessee — I know it's in Texas, probably in Tennessee — that says, fool me once, shame on — shame on you. Fool me — you can't get fooled again."
Arnold still owns four hummers. Plus he's got a hydrogen hummer on loan from GM. The so-called "green hummer".
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(larkinmj @ Apr 1 2007, 04:02 PM) [snapback]416143[/snapback]</div> The American electorate seems to have an unlimited capacity for being fooled. If the shrub can fool them, there really is no hope.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(daniel @ Apr 1 2007, 06:44 PM) [snapback]416217[/snapback]</div> For many, it wasn't so much “being fooled†(twice) as it was being repulsed by choice #2. Go Hillary, Go!!!! :lol: :lol: :lol: http://www.harrisinteractive.com/harris_poll/
Flex fuel = good image. In general, the US population thinks that flex fuel is great. There are a few (like those here) who recognize that it really isn't a solution to the problem. So candidates driving a flex fuel vehicle gain political points because they can send several messages with it: 1. Cares about the environment 2. Supports American farmers instead of the middle east 3. Supports American innovation 4. Supports the American auto industry instead of foreign auto companies While all of those points are debatable, they hold true in most American's eyes, which is all that matters.
Flexfuel is the cheap addition to cars produced starting 2012, simply because it allows the US car manufacturers to keep on building the cars they way they have always done. It take much more research, innovation and dedication to work out and implement a fuel consumption reduction system, such as a hybrid, then adding a $100.00 switch to fill up with corn cobs This is a good read: http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/cars/ne...rchTerm=ethanol " Fuel economy, however, dropped across the board. In highway driving, gas mileage decreased from 21 to 15 mpg; in city driving, it dropped from 9 to 7 mpg." I think a lawnmower gets better mileage that this!
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Lywyllyn @ Apr 2 2007, 12:34 PM) [snapback]416541[/snapback]</div> From the above-cited article: In other words, the government is giving the Big 3 an obscene CAFE exemption for building horrible gas-guzzlers which will never be used as "intended" and will therefore never reduce gas consumption or pollution.
