Saab owners: A question of Politics?

Jan 23, 2005 20 Replies

For reasons of pure curiosity, and political study, I ask that you read and reply to this post. If it's not within the bounds of good taste for this forum, I'll take it somewhere else. I don't care what your answers are, just as long as it's not made into a bashfest.



I may not be popular for this one, but I have a question.



I'm a pretty staunch republican, and I love SAAB's. Unfortunately, a lot of my conservative brethren tend to think of me as a turncoat due to the fact that I choose to drive a swedish car. (IE - Talk radio's Neal Boortz, or Glenn Beck).



So.. now I'm curious. How does the political views of the average SAAB owner lean? Right or Left?



Feel free to weigh in. I'm looking for one of the following answers, and nothing more:



On a scale of 1-100 (1 being most liberal, 100 being most conservative) = (Me, I'm an 75-80)



Or one of these descriptions



Extremely Liberal Liberal Somewhat Liberal (Lean toward the left) Middle of the road Somewhat Conservative (Lean toward the right) Conservative


This is one of the few, precious places in the world that remains largely apolitical, and if I had my way, it would stay so. And so while I would otherwise be happy to respond to your query, I will refrain.

John

I'm socially liberal and fiscally conservative, I guess I'd have to give myself about a 20 on the list though I definitly distance myself from affiliating with any particular political party due to the childish bicking and nasty mudslinging on both sides. Most of the conservatives I know drive domestic cars, but then quite a few parts of my Volvo are made by AC Delco, Volvo is now owned by Ford, Saab is now GM, my previous vehicle was a Ford but quite a few pieces of it was Japanese, and every car I've owned including the Saab has been bought from an american, I paid (and continue to pay) taxes to the american government, I buy fuel here in america, insurance, many of the consumables, etc. Perhaps you could bring up a few of those points when people give you flak.

Good call, and great talking points. I love my saabs, however... I dunno that I'd go so far as to get it direct from sweden! And you're right about the taxes, gas, etc. Thanks for weighing in. I appreciate the responses that are well thought out and written in plain english. =)

I'm with John. It's always disillusioning to find that someone who you feel is otherwise intelligent and rational has vastly different political views than you do - especially when they seem to fly in the face of anything resembling logic. Not gonna do it; wouldn't be prudent...at this juncture...

Tough question...

Especially since it makes no sense to comapre the two items -- considering most contemporary self-anoitned republicans confuse their platform with conservatism.

90% of these people have no idea what real conservatism is... 21st century conservatism is "do what I say and not what I do"... People in red states would rather elect a criminal who is pro-life rather than put anyone else in office. But then again the left doesn't offer any alternatives either!

If anyone is going to declare themselves a republican, it should be mandatory to read the Federalist Papers and anything written by Thomas Jefferson (who if was alive today would probably be ostracized by the political establishment).

At any rate, I've heard the foreign car sthick all my life. I was born in Detroit and raised in SE Michigan. Always took crap like the orginal poster for driving a "foregin" car. Over the last two decades there's been such a blurring of the line of what is a foregin car and what is domestic, that's it's become almost impossible to tell and anyone who says otherwise is talking out of their a$$.

BTW, I'm a vet, I have a graduate degree, and I'm on my 4th Saab.. and probably a 60 on your scale. How many of the folks giving you grief about your Saab have served their country, volunteered time for charitable organizations, or held public office? Unitl they do, they should probably shut the f**k up and worry about things more significant that what car you drive.

Peace Out

Agreed. It also reminds me of those 'scientific' surveys that will try to attach significance to the choice of car colour. There is often little to choose from, depending on availability and model MY changes. Especially if you're buying second hand. The cars that I've owned have been beige, blue, black, yellow, light blue, red and green. Where is the pattern in this?

Definately out of place in a group about cars.

Dave Hinz

Yes, either that or they decide to buy a BWM (or whatever it was)

Also, it seems a purely USA centered issue.

-- MH '72 97 '77 96 '78 95 '79 96 '87 900T8

formatting link

Point well taken. I shouldn't have posted this here. Just morbid curiosity on my part, and unfortunately, I feel that curiosity may well kill the cat on this post.

Reminds me of the story about the municipal government that had a "Buy American" policy considering bids for a small tractor. They didn't know whether to accept the bid of the American brand made in Asia or the Asian brand made in America.

Is that directed at anyone in particular? ;-)

The only country in which that Saab ownership could be viewed negatively for being 'unpatriotic' is clearly the dumb USA ! Home of the world's dumbest ever 'world leader'.

Sorry - just had to get that off my chest !

Intielligent, well-heeled professional ( of either persusasion ) when buying new for sure - lol.

You left out socialist. There's lots of them in Europe ( home of the car you drive ). Sweden has a long established social democratic tradition. A concept entirely absent in the USA.

European concepts of 'liberal' are likely to be widely at odds with the US view too. In Europe, liberal may also mean 'libertarian' to no small degree whilst conservative often means rather the opposite. Having said that, US conservatives may presents themselves as libertarian whilst in truth pursuing another agenda. Hence my input would be irrelevant. Your question is too narrowly focused.

Graham

We don't badmouth _your_ leader with a limited set of facts, perhaps you could consider returning the favor?

I see. Does everyone else feel the same?

Nah... BWM is probably one of those little known Welsh manufacturers & so couldn't have anything to do with your recent darkside flirtation. Cheers

Nah... BWM is probably one of those little known Welsh manufacturers & so couldn't have anything to do with your recent darkside flirtation. Cheers

This is only an issue with Republicans because those on the left wing tend to be Pro Choice.

Join the Discussion

Have something to add? Share your thoughts — no account required.

Didn't find your answer?

Ask the community — no account required