LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. (AP) — Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards told a labor group he would ask Americans to make a big sacrifice: their sport utility vehicles.
The former North Carolina senator told a forum by the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers in Lake Buena Vista, Florida, yesterday he thinks Americans are willing to sacrifice.
Edwards says Americans should be asked to drive more fuel efficient vehicles. He says he would ask them to give up SUVs.
Flock off John. Sacrifice your mansion. Then we can talk.
Hat tip photo: Counterance Blog.
Addendum I: (David L)And the SUV you in on, as well. Well thanks to the Sister, I now know that the pig drives an SUV himself:
Hat tip photo: Ben Smith.
Addendum II: (Bit) Actually, he has TWO of them. Hume, tonight:
Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards says he wants people to give up their sport utility vehicles. Edwards told a labor group Tuesday that Americans should drive more fuel-efficient vehicles and called the U.S. “the worst polluter on the planet.”Edwards’ campaign concedes he does own a hybrid Ford Escape SUV, along with a 2004 Chrysler Pacifica midsize SUV, but says he uses that less often now.Edwards was also asked about the apparent contradiction of asking Americans to sacrifice while he lives in a 28,000 square foot mansion in North Carolina. He replied that he came from nothing and worked hard all his life — saying, “I have no apologies whatsoever for what I’ve done with my life.”
(Emph is mine)Yes, well, neither does anybody else, John. Yet you expect them to sacrifice things that you will not.We actually had a Ford Escape for a while. Heck of a truck, that one. Got about 24 on the highway. Not too bad, really. we bought it for dealing with the snow around here. When that lease on that vehicle was up, we turned around and bought our current SUV, the Buick Rainier. Which, while getting a slightly lower 21 to the gallon on the highway, it also has the capability of towing 7000lbs.. A quality the much smaller Escape lacked. Edwards doesn’t use the Escape much anymore, by his own words, but DOES use the Pacifica, which gets… around 17mpg.
Of course, if I had as big a house as John Edwards has, I would need the Pacific of the drive from one end of it to the other comfortably, wouldn’t I?
Just a thought, John, but if you’re going to make a call for “national sacrifice to save the planet” and “be patriotic ” and if you are going to claim that you are fighting for “the poor” don’t you think it might be a good idea to not be what you’re complaining about?
