Candidate Insults Auto Workers - Again

Michigan is a state that has endured enormous job losses due to the moving of manufacturing overseas. I remember during the primaries earlier this year when John McCain took his "straight talk" campaign to that state. Apparently, McCain thought that the residents of Michigan were in some sort of denial about their loss of jobs and their economic predicament. Essentially, his campaign pitch to the Michiganders went something like this, "My friends, I'm going to tell you the truth. Those jobs you lost are not coming back."

It's no wonder Mitt Romney won Michigan. Fast forward the clock to September 2008. John McCain is in trouble with those Michigan workers again. It's not just his cavalier attitude about their loss of jobs that has gotten him crosswise this time, it's that the "straight talker" has some trouble talking straight. It seems that John McCain has told some lies and the auto workers aren't happy about it.

Today, I listened in on a conference call hosted by United Auto Workers (UAW) President Ron Gettelfinger. Here's what the UAW President had to say today in response to the latest news of John McCain not being straight with working families...

"In an interview a few weeks ago with a Detroit TV station, John McCain said, and I quote, 'I've bought American literally all my life, and I'm proud.'
"That may be a nice campaign line, but it turns out that John McCain wasn't being straight with the people of Detroit-in fact, John McCain owns 13 cars, including a foreign made Lexus, a Volkswagen, and a Honda Sedan-on top of the Toyota Prius that he bragged about buying just last year.

"People are free to buy any kind of car they want-that isn't the issue here. What is the issue is that the American auto industry, and American voters, deserve a president who will be straight with them.

"If we can't trust John McCain on something as simple as what kind of cars he owns, how can we trust him when he talks about investing in American jobs.

"Buy American can't just be a slogan that John McCain rolls out when he is in Michigan.

"It's insulting to our members. We need a president who's committed to rebuilding the auto industry here America, not a President who buys foreign cars and then lies about when he thinks autoworkers are watching."

(Ron Gettelfinger, UAW President, September 21, 2008)

Today, Newsweek also reported that John McCain indeed owns a fleet of thirteen cars, as Ron Gettelfinger pointed out, and that contrary to what McCain said in a recent TV interview, the fleet does include foreign-made cars. The Newsweek report shows that McCain wasn't being honest with voters during that recent interview with WXYZ TV in Detroit when he said: "I've bought American literally all my life, and I'm proud."

McCain made those comments while defending his purchase of foreign hybrid vehicle - a purchase he denied making despite having bragged about it in South Carolina last year.

In addition to the foreign hybrid he bragged about last year, Newsweek reports that McCain's personal fleet of thirteen vehicles includes a Lexus, a 2005 Volkswagen convertible, and a 2001 Honda sedan.

I agree with Gettelfinger. I have no problem with McCain buying foreign made cars.

What I do have a problem with, however, is McCain's condescending attitude towards Michiganders during the primary and his untruths about his properties. Earlier, he couldn't remember how many houses he owns. Now, we discover that he had previously bragged about owning cars that later he claimed he had not purchased.

The "straight talker" can't get his stories straight.

Meanwhile, all the hardworking Americans in Michigan want is jobs - and what they deserve now, and every day, is the truth.

Is that too much to ask from a man that wants to serve as president?