Voting Blue or Red
They say never to talk about it. It’s one of the two big no-nos, but blogs break all the rules — so what the heck, let’s break the rules for a change. Shoot for the moon, I say. I’m talking about politics. We know that Obama is an active RVer, but I’m told that when Cheney travels by airplane he does so in a very large plane with an RV loaded in its belly. Cheney’s staff refers to this RV as “the Silver Bullet.” I don’t know for sure, but that may very well be an Airstream. Has his traveling in an RV (by plane) had a direct or indirect impact on our industry over the last eight years? Hard to say, but I doubt it. If Obama is elected, will it have a direct or indirect impact on our industry? Again I’m not sure. Hillary? (shrug) I’m told Chelsea Clinton, Hillary’s daughter, pulled into Carnegie Mellon University in a Chateau RV today. Does that mean anything?
At RVIA’s annual meeting, a presentation was done on how each candidate, if elected as president, might impact the RV industry. Would we be better off with a republican or democrat? Would Hillary be nicer to us than Obama?
What about McCain? Is he an outdoorsy sort of guy?
Now I realize that who is put in office may impact a whole host of things that could directly or indirectly impact our industry in different ways. For instance, if a democrat is elected, it will most likely mean an increase in ma and pa’s taxes, not to mention business taxes. On the other side of the coin, if a democrat is elected they say they will do something about the price of oil and promise to end the war. If a republican is elected they promise to do something about immigration reform and will bring economic stability to the U.S. and overall stability to the Iraqi nation. Nearly every issue you can imagine that is important to any segment of our population will be impacted in some way, shape or form. The question is “how?” I sure don’t know.
My experience with government is that it is so slow moving that progress on any front, on any issue, is nearly impossible. Even when a party dominates both the executive and legislative branches of government, there is always the filibuster.
It can be really frustrating when it appears that politicians spend most of their time drawing things out to prevent anything from being accomplished, rather than actually providing solutions to the nation’s problems. A really great example is the mortgage mess that has been going on for more than a year. Congress has had more than 12 months to offer a solution. This issue has impacted the RV industry, and on a greater scale our economy so drastically, it’s truly amazing nothing has been done yet. I suspect the real reason is because nothing can be done with so many people involved. They say the quickest route to getting absolutely nothing accomplished is to form a committee. Our government is one big committee.
My question to bloggers this week is: who will be the best presidential candidate for the RV industry, and why do you think that? I hate to say this, but as with all blogs, remember to be nice with each other as we discuss this, or I may delete your comments.
May 14th, 2008 at 12:06 pm
Scott has it right! It really does not matter who is in office, it is who controls the money (and there is a lot involved). Red and Blue is just to make you think you are choosing, or so I am convinced….
Happy camping! I voted Ron Paul?!? Bet your all suprised!
April 18th, 2008 at 1:44 pm
It has been an irritant to me ever since the press decided to paint the Reds blue and the good guys red. Same old, same old from the left wing press - it’s always just the opposite from what they tell us.
April 16th, 2008 at 2:58 pm
Dana’s question was “which candidate would best serve our industry and why?” not “who are you voting for?”
I think the clear answer is John McCain. As to the “why” - you will have to admit that the majority of our customers are centrists or right wingers - conservatives - and I believe that his thought process works more like our clients do. I think our customers have jobs or had them. It’s hard to get someone financed who is on the dole so that leaves out most lefties and tree huggers. Our customers have the ability to know when someone is telling them a bald faced lie therefore they are not likely to vote for either of the two Democrat candidates. Neither of those two will promote drilling ANWR nor are they likely to get in OPEC’s face if in charge . The return of consumer confidence will be speedier with McCain simply because our citizens will feel safer with him in control. Regardless of what the lefties say, they will feel safer too. McCain would present a good balance for the democrat controlled congress which would in turn help balance the economy. The economy really wasn’t bad until the President became a Lame Duck in the eyes of the media. I believe that the mere prospect of a Democrat controlled Congress and Executive branch is what has sent the economy into a tailspin. It has caused the dollar to drop, which started the mortgage collapse, rising oil prices, credit squeezes and trade deficits.
Whoever wins will be my president and I will respect the office no matter if I dissagree with every decision that comes out of the White House.
Like Dennis Miller says “well that’s my opinion but I could be wrong”
April 16th, 2008 at 8:59 am
Vote for McCain, vote for Hillary, vote for Obama they are all the same Democrat or Republican someone owns them or will own them and the agenda will become whatever that someone wants it to be and screw the American people. Just look at all that has gone on just this year alone it is amazing that this country is falling to pieces and our great government is doing noting but trying to bail out all of the morons who helped get us in this mess. Write in Lou Dobbs for President he is the only one who makes any sense.
April 16th, 2008 at 8:35 am
I should have read all of the blog, the part about the other side of the coin, and a democrat doing something about the price of oil. A democrat already has. Twice a Republican Congress passed a bill in ‘95 to open ANWAR for exploration, with an estimated time of 8 years for drill to pump. Twice Clinton vetoed it.
April 16th, 2008 at 8:29 am
I think we need to look at the agendas of the candidates, hidden or otherwise, and not their travel preferences. Study up on the ACLU, socialism and marxism, and then see where rv’ing figures in to their politics. This is an important election. We have already allowed someone to sit on the U.S. Supreme Court for life (by a vote of 98-2,I might add) who is not just an ACLU member, but was on the board. Engage the culture.
April 15th, 2008 at 10:50 pm
At this time I believe that we only have one person who is actually qualified to be our next President, McCain has earned his place in our goverment, he has been a good member of our goverment for many years. sure he has probably made a few mistakes, while in office, but who hasn’t. McCain is the only canidate running for office who keeps coming up with ideas to help ease the pain for the working class. today he is asking for the federal gasoline tax to be dropped until the economy turns around. the other two are just blowing their own horn. we need an X G.I. who will bring our men and women home, who are fighting an unnecessary conflict that we can’t win.
April 15th, 2008 at 6:33 pm
Vote Red, for the reasons stated above. I would add that I do not choose my political choices by what’s best for our industry. I have been in this business for over 22 years, it has provided a good and pretty stable living for my family. I would choose our next President by thinking about what is best for our country. It is time we start tking it back.
April 15th, 2008 at 4:40 pm
VOTE RED!
McCain is the obvious choice for the RV industry because either of his two opponents will raise taxes to the extent that it will deplete the disposable income available for a large number of our customers. This will mean fewer qualified buyers in all recreational industries.
Congress should not be straddled with the mortgage mess. The mortgage mess was created by over-aggressive lenders greedily trying to get larger returns than normal in the market.
If I would open too many RV dealership locations and could not sustain the overhead, should Congress help me out of the situation? I think not.