Tuesday, June 2, 2009

Thought Question...

Much has been made about the recent fact that the recent spate of government-sponsored Chrysler dealership closings and the political affiliations of the people who ran said dealerships. It appears that the number of Republican-donating dealerships that were closed outnumbered the number of Democrat-donating dealerships by more than a 3-1 margin.

A defense has been offered that car dealerships are overwhelmingly Republican-owned; personally, I don't buy it. Car dealerships exist for one reason and one reason only: to make money. With the American population pretty much evenly split between parties, it doesn't make good financial sense for that large of a disparity to exist.

That aside, here's where the question comes in:

Assume for a moment that a memo were to surface, one as crudely and obviously fake as the memo allegedly attributed to Bush's National Guard commander claiming Bush failed to show for Guard duty. Said memo might be from a low-level White House staffer or even anonymous. Assume the context to be something innocuous yet alluding to "payback" or somesuch. Here's the question:

How many seconds worth of airtime do you think 60 Minutes would give this memo?

I'm wagering it would be a number somewhere between 0 and 0...

(For the record, I believe it was more of a case that there were more people arguing against the closure of Democratically-connected dealerships than the reverse).

That is all.

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

you really are an angry man aren't you. Hate and spite are your patent excuse. You disservice America. Leave!

Jay G said...

There you have it, folks. Another sterling example of the left's famous tolerance and Reasoned Discourse™...

Anonymous said...

Here is some more info.

http://www.lonelyconservative.com/2009/05/27/chrysler-dealers-slated-for-closure-are-gop-donors/

Buck said...

Nate Silver does a pretty good job explaining it.

http://www.fivethirtyeight.com/2009/05/news-flash-car-dealers-are-republicans.html

There's no conspiracy here, folks -- just some bad math.

It shouldn't be any surprise, by the way, that car dealers tend to vote -- and donate -- Republican. They are usually male, they are usually older (you don't own an auto dealership in your 20s), and they have obvious reasons to be pro-business, pro-tax cut, anti-green energy and anti-labor. Car dealerships need quite a bit of space and will tend to be located in suburban or rural areas. I can't think of too many other occupations that are more natural fits for the Republican Party. Unfortunately, while we are still a nation of drivers, we are not a nation of dealers.
This is one way to look at it.

ASM826 said...

Anonymous comments are the drive-by egging of the internet.

So, if you happen to come back to see what your intellect managed to stir up, FUCK YOU, YOU TROLL. LEAVE! Go back to the Huffington Post and pretend everything is going according to plan.

Otherwise, post your blog and your name, and show us some facts to disprove the truth of what MArooned posted.

That's my sterling reply to his reasoned discourse and tolerance for my point of view.

libertyman said...

Well they are closing my Jeep dealership with its two car showroom and honest and capable staff. An oasis among the big time dealers who hide behind their plaid suits, and phony prices.
Chrysler was poorly managed, and this guy takes the hit, left with nothing to sell. Would I buy another Jeep? And support the company now owned by friggin' FIAT???? I don't think so. What a shame. They "disservice America" They should leave.

jimbob86 said...

For the life of me I can't figure out why Chrysler would close THE ONLY DEALERSHIP in a county full of fat rich corn farmers in an ethanol boom........ Faw Motors in Arapahoe NE....... mayhaps they did not sell a lot of cars, but they were PROFITABLE.