[cnn-photo-caption image= http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2008/images/09/22/art.cts.assemblyline.gi.jpg caption="The Cadilac CTS assembly line in Detroit, MI. One of McCain's thirteen cars."]
FROM CNN's Jack Cafferty:
With just 43 days left until the presidential election, we've officially entered "silly season."
A new piece on Newsweek's web site points out the number of cars each of the presidential candidates owns.
John and Cindy McCain have 13 cars while Barack and Michele Obama have just 1. This is according to vehicle registration records. Two of McCain's cars - a Honda sedan and a Volkswagen convertible - are foreign-made... Even though he's said before that he only buys American.
The Democratic National Committee quickly pounced on this car issue and organized a conference call with United Auto Worker Union president Ron Gettelfinger. The UAW has endorsed Obama. Gettelfinger said on the call that the revelation about McCain's vehicles shows he is not being truthful with Americans. And he went on to say that owning these two foreign vehicles is undermining American autoworkers. The car McCain uses for personal business, by the way, is a 2004 Cadillac CTS, made by general motors.
Barack and Michelle Obama's only car is a 2008 Ford Hybrid Escape.
And why anybody cares about this is beyond me.
Here’s my question to you: Is the number of cars John McCain owns an important issue to you?
Interested to know which ones made it on air?
Josh writes:
Absolutely. In some ways, insight like this is a more important window into what these candidates really believe in. It is easy to talk "American" and get a rally of Harley-owners to rev their engines for you, but apparently not so easy to actually own an American car. Plus nothing says "one of us" like owning 13 cars. I don't own that many dress shirts.
Tom writes:
No, I really don't care how many cars he has or whether they are American- or foreign-made. I do care if this guy and his “mayor of 9000” running mate can run the country and keep us safe from all kinds of exterior threats. But he can't and, God forbid something were to happen to him, she certainly couldn't. God save us from the Savings and Loan guy (remember that?) and the "no bridge to nowhere for me, but could I just have the money” gal. Yuck.
Christopher writes:
Absolutely. I think that if you can own seven homes, 13 different cars and be married to a wife that's a beer heiress, you don't know what anyone in the middle class is going through.
Jack from Florida writes:
I could care less how many cars McCain has. What does bother me is that he continues to profess his support for Detroit but he goes out and buys foreign? McCain just seems to say whatever the crowd in front of him that day wants to hear.
John writes:
Cars, schmars. We are having this fierce debate over which one of the village idiots will save us from the dragon. Meanwhile the money changers are burning down the house.
Fred from East Moriches, NY writes:
You're absolutely right. Why should anyone care? McCain has every right to go down the highway with his 13 turn signals blinking, just like any other senior citizen.
Lamont writes:
The nerve. An Ivy League-educated black man with one house and one car? How elitist can you get?