Recently the famous car publication Car&Driver realesed an article exploring what the presidential candidates are driving themselves. This was interesting for me because in a day and age where environmental issues make up a good bulk of the attention in these presidential debates it was interesting to see if the preacher was following his own preaching.

They start out with the man that graciously graces the title. Senator Barack Obama is a big advocate of environmental issues. He has more than once reassured that he’d make these issues part of this top priorities. He also drives a 340HP, 5.7 liter, HEMI,  V8 Chrysler 300C. Interesting, Car&Driver writes:

“Senator Obama’s 340 horsepower and 390 pound-feet of torque might help him scurry away from life-threatening scares quicker than a two-pound chimp shot out of a cannon, but every time he starts that V-8, he’s choking dolphins and using the corpses to club baby seals. The scoundrel, the hypocrite, the…the…the liar. We’d just consider him a well-informed consumer for not missing out on our repeat 10Best winner, but then again, we rarely get better than 20 mpg in anything.”

The most intriguing part though is the last bit, “…but then again, we rarely get better than 20 mpg in anything.” That is where you see the real problem. While Obama drives a 2 ton V8 sedan, it is, an American 2 ton V8 sedan. Sometimes when your running for the seat of president of the United States that matters more.

Still when the fact that most cars that roam the U.S. still get less than 20mpg, is Barack really that far of the mark? In a day and age where hybrids are beginning to show that they really don’t get that exact EPA mileage, but rather a bit less, it’s crucial to understand that the underlying problem is not on choice of automobile. It’s on the lack of availability of an alternative.

The link to Car&Driver’s website and the article is posted below:

http://www.caranddriver.com/features/13045/what-would-barack-obama-drive.html