Per Motor Trend, All Volvo Owners Are Left-wing Liberal

[zimmy77]

What I don't understand is why the lower to middle income blue collar demographic refuses the security nets provided by the democratic platform. They would benefit more under Democratic leadership than under Republican leadership.

I'm a blue collar, extremely middle class Republican.

I DO NOT WANT A HAND OUT!!!

All I want is to be able to keep what I earn, and not have to support some low life pile of crap that wants to leach. I work to pay for my education.... in cash. I dont take hand outs from the government for my education. You are what you make of yourself.

I've been homeless.... Feb '97. It's not fun. You need to be resourceful and work with what you have. Get a job. Keep your job. Make enough money to get a place to live. Sustain. Save money for more education for a better job. Climb the damn ladder.

EVERYONE can do it. The opportunities are there. You just have to have the drive to do it. AND, the government shouldnt have to bail you out like your parents would.... it's not their job and it's not society's job to babysit deadbeats.

[InlineTurbo]

I agree 100% with you. I'm a democrat but have voted the other way in multiple elections big and small. Lack of education is deff a cause for the consistency of the Rep party. Too many ignorant people in this country (no offence to anyone) who don't read between the lines and believe what they are told on the radio, tv, newspaper, etc is always true. Hell, I think if we work on getting that poor excuse of a leader out of the white house, we could be heading in the right direction! *ducks*

<------hhhhhhhhhhhhhhuge Bush hater and proud of it!

-Ryan

You can take just about everything you just said and change Republican for Democrat. The large amount of non education and non thinking is the only thing keeping Democrats in any kind of power. I used to not care at all until about 2003 when the absolute stupidity and outright lies being told in the media got me to start paying attention. It was then I realized that most of what I heard on the news is B.S. and a lot of it very one sided. I quit even thinking CNN was a news organization because of their total lack of objective reporting. The Core value of the conservative party is common sense. It works really well. That is why people tend to vote that way. Because if you live long enough you realized that common sense gets you through things. You won't find much common sense in today's Democratic party. You will find race baiters (Jessy Jackson, Al Sharpton), radical leftists (Nancy Pelosi, Teddy Kennedy, Chuck Schumer), and people who will insult your intelligence on a daily basis (John Kerry and a host of others). Most people think voting Democrat is 'Cool' and 'the thing smart people do.' When really it is just a bunch of people trying to make themselves feel better and not accomplish anything, but taxing the rest of us to death. Oh, and taking away our guns. Because taking the guns away from lawful citizens therefore making sure only unlawful people have guns will make us more safe. Just ask Britain how that is working out. They have an anti-gun, socialist, cradle to grave utopia going on over there. Not to mention unemployment problems and massive crime issues.

The problem with today's democrats is they are extremely liberal. They think that is what it takes to get them elected because it polls well. Guess what? The people inventing the polls and the people they are polling are a bunch of liberals which makes the poll pretty much useless. It may play well in New York or the PR of Kalifornia, but the rest of the country can see what a mess those states are. Not to mention if all you do is lead by polls then you aren't leading. Liberalism doesn't work. It has never worked in the history of the planet. It has been tried several times and has failed every single time. Rome, Solviet Union, China, N. Korea and a host of others going back centuries. They all either fell apart or are crumbling apart at the seams under the weight of their own governments. No thanks. I'd rather stick with capitalism and freedom.

EVERYONE can do it. The opportunities are there. You just have to have the drive to do it. AND, the government shouldnt have to bail you out like your parents would.... it's not their job and it's not society's job to babysit deadbeats.

Amen to that. You are given a choice to either work hard and earn or not. Some people get lucky and don't have to work to earn. That is fine. Some people can't work. That is also fine as that is a small part of society. I have no problem helping them out. The rest who don't want to work, but are perfectly capable will just have to see how that works out for them.

Edited June 9, 2006 by InlineTurbo

[exexpat]

I've been homeless.... Feb '97. It's not fun. You need to be resourceful and work with what you have. Get a job. Keep your job. Make enough money to get a place to live. Sustain. Save money for more education for a better job. Climb the damn ladder.

Kudos for getting out of homeless status! The problem is that most do not and seek other means (usually criminal) to support themselves. You would be surprised how the macro quality of life increases without destitude being a reason for criminal activity. The key is to find the right balance for hand-outs to keep people off the streets and marginally content and also communicate with transparency what the benefits of the taxes you pay for provide. Again, visit somewhere where this works and remember ye of little social healthcare faith, the good models support a mix of governmental and private insurance so that you have the option of buying up into the service priority queue so that same day triple-bypass is still available to those in the upper income brackets (i.e. those with medical coverage in the US).

Honestly, I was upset coming back from 5 years abroad with $40k in savings and having all of that evaporate in six months because there were no affordable programs to get my family insured without employment. That would not be the case had we elected to move to my wife's home country of Australia.

Edited June 9, 2006 by exexpat

[davidclanton]

- Well, for what it's worth Car & Driver July issue also ran a similar article on the S80 but they even titled it: Playing it safe... perhaps not wanting to perpetuate obsolete stereotypes that alienate half of their audience with politically charged overtones. It contains nothing about the left or right, reps or dems, liberals or conservatives.

- Thank you Car & Driver for keeping the dialogue focused on the car's specifications such as its 311 hp V8, 0-60 in 6.5 sec, XC90-like AWD system, and its Mercedes-like interior & stiff suspension.

[matt1122]

I thought they all drove priuses and the like?

I honestly don't see a car as a symbol of political position.

The most politically liberal family I know owns a Lexus RX330, Mercedes S55 AMG, Porsche 911 Turbo, E55 AMG Wagon and an SLK320. I am not sure about the SLK, but I think that's 5 cars that if driven conservatively (no pun intended) still don't get 20 mpg. :rolleyes:

[Guinny_Ire]

Wow, thought I was the only Republican Volvo driver out there. And gun totin' one at that. Good to see others. Will say I grew up in a Volvo family of Republicans and I can remember people who didn't know my parents talking to them as if they were liberals. Swore I'd never own one (they weren't cool when you were in HS) and now I've got two lol

[TG850T5R]

Again, you haven't spent significant time abroad in these places, and what you hear on Fox News can't be taken literally. Go to Australia and walk through downtown Sydney or Melbourne an entire weekend, I guarantee 0-1 beggars will ask for money, now try this in any US city. Don't argue, just go try. Also check out violent crime rates per capita in Australia, New Zealand, Germany or most of Western Europe; we do pretty well against South Africa and parts of the Middle East, but that is about it.

I like it here, too; albeit I hope to spend more years living and working abroad when the kids get older. And if I made more than $200k per year or owned a farm or business, I could justify moving to a more Republican platform view. What I don't understand is why the lower to middle income blue collar demographic refuses the security nets provided by the democratic platform. They would benefit more under Democratic leadership than under Republican leadership. The Republicans in this sense have a huge advantage with the whole Nascar bubba tough, outspoken views and dogma angle to appeal to the naive, while the tax beneficiaries in upper incomes reap the benefits. I respect the Republican model for it's beauty and competence to strike this balance. I realize as long as this persists, Republicans will not be dethrowned until the population becomes more educated, but continued pulling of education funding in general keeps it going. Beautiful!

I couldn't of said better my self...... Put me into the whole Volvo stereo type bucket. I am your latté drinking, NPR listening, tree hugging Ballard lover! You will have to put one of your NRA approved guns on my head to ever vote republican or watch bunch of cars go around in a circle! Oh as far as the robber coming into my house comment: My security system is loud enough wake up the whole block! Like Jeremy stated the key word in here is EDUCATION!

[FixerUpper]

"i love watching fox news"

LMFAO

Thats a good way to cause a Volvo to catch fire, supporting Bush

edit: also, I forget to mention that its all Clinton's fault. Not to mention Ted Kennedy-its all his fault too. Hillary's fault as well. The "real" axis of evil...clinton, kennedy, clinton. Right?

there, now you can skip Fox news for the next month!

Edited October 12, 2006 by FixerUpper

[Stea1thV]

- I'm just curious if I really am that much of an anomaly.

- Reading through the July 06 Motor Trend, my interest spiked on an article about the all-new Volvo S80 V8. But then I was taken aback by the title of the article "From Left to Right, The Big Swede Leans More to the Middle" and the first paragraph hammered their point defining a Volvo owner by stating the brand is a key icon of the stereotypical liberal-or, as University of California, Berkely linguist Geoffrey Nunberg describes the demographic, the "latte-drinking, sushi-eating, Volvo-driving, New York Time-reading, body-piercing, Hollywood-loving, left-wing freak show."

Regarding this Nunberg's stereotype:

- Yes, I like espresso (not latte, I actually like Americano without the frothed milk, no caramel, no sugar).

- Yes, I eat sushi several times a week (but I also eat red meat).

- Yes, I have proudly owned many Volvos dating back to the 80's (200 series, 700 series and S40). As a kid growing up in the 70's/80's, my next door neighbor owned a Volvo dealership and I fell in love with the many models he drove home each day.

- No, despise the New York Times (I'm an avid viewer of Fox News).

- No, never pierced anything (no tattoos either, no moustache, no beard, no goatee).

- Yes, I actually do love Hollywood when I can watch something without far-left politically-charged propaganda shoved down my throat. I can appreciate comedians that are bi-partisan (attack both sides of the aisle) like Jay Leno (unlike SNL's Tina Fey or John Stewart).

- No, I'm about the antithesis of left-wing. I was pro-Ronald Reagan back when it was really uncool to be. I think all social welfare programs merely breed perpetual dependence; despite their founders' best intentions. Instead of serving as a temporary springboard to get people back on their feet, we are now on a 5th generation being born into welfare/food stamps/subsidized housing (or is it 6th?).

- But I wonder, am I alone or are their other Volvo owners who break the mold? Any other NASCAR fans out there? Any other card-carrying Republicans? Any others who believe welfare does more harm than good? Any others who support the War on Terrorism taking an offensive and fighting them in the Middle East rather than waiting for them to attack us on American soil on their terms? Please respond, I really am intrigued to find out. Despite my passion for Volvos for several decades, I wonder if I oughtta be driving a fire-breathing Mustang GT or 4WD Powerstroke diesel F250 pickup.

ill tell ya right now my man none of that except volvo-driving describes me

[S40_Flyer]

Wow, I dont know how far off that could be from me.

I support the NRA as I truely believe knowing how to operate a firearm in a safe manner is important for EVERYONE to know. I don't care if you think that guns should be banned or whatnot, because when it comes down to it, if your some criminal or something you dont give a rats jerk if its illegal or not so your just going to find a gun and use it. Im not saying we need guns to shoot all the badguys wild wild west style, I'm just saying that if guns are banned, I really believe the crimerate will climb for the sole reason being that if the badguy knows ur not armed or dont have the option of even being armed, so theres no risk for them to rob you. Its that simple.

I also think abortion is rediculous and you should just wear a rubber or have her use the pill!

If you cant tell, im conservative but I do consider myself 25/75 lib:con beacuse I do support stem cell research to some extent.

Just my 2 cents...