July 24, 2004

Oops!

John Kerry may want to connect with the average American voter--he does need their votes. While not having anything against blue collar Joe Sixpack-types he and his campaign remain tone deaf towards them.

For example, this past week Kerry went to Detroit, the heart of America's auto industry, to speak before the Urban League. Workers are very loyal to their employer's cars and to American products in general. The press badge for the trip proudly displayed a product of German construction, a Rolls-Royce 100EX. It could have been any car in the world, but it had to be 1.) a German automobile (imagine if it had been a Pugeot?); 2.) something complete out of reach to most Americans. He could have gotten away with a Chrysler Crossfire, an American coupe that look and performs like it's Mercedes-Benz cousins.

It's not as big a deal as partisan yappers make it out to be (note auto worker Sam Burwell's over-the-top comments), but it is telling in how out of touch Kerry Edwards is.

"Kerry Camp Spins its Wheels"

UPDATE: From The Onion's farce-or-fact department, in February they published "Kerry Makes Whistle-Stop Tour From Deck of Yacht." [Kudos to Glenn Reynolds for the idea.]

UPDATE II: There's some confusion about where the pictured Rolls-Royce was made. The Times story says the 100EX was built in Munich. BMW bought Rolls-Royce in 2003 and has a plant in Great Britain. I'm guessing design work takes place in Germany while the production cars are made in Great Britain.