Skip to Content
Streetsblog Los Angeles home
Streetsblog Los Angeles home
Log In
Election 2008

Mitt and McCain Offer Differences on Car Culture

Cars in Your Blood? You May Want to Get That Checked Out

As the clock winds down on another primary contest for the Republicans, Senator John McCain and Governor Mitt Romney are offering two different visions of what they see as the future of the car industry in America.

Romney wants to bring back all the jobs Michigan has lost and blames their departure not on globalism, but on fuel efficiency standards. McCain, the only Republican candidate to recognize that global warming exists, is at least pushing legislation that would increase fuel efficiency.

Let's check in with the front runners to see what they have to say in their own words...

Mitt Romney: Just as Romney told Schieffer he is the only GOP candidate "that's got the automobile industry in my blood veins," he told the group in Southfield that he alone could remember the Motor City's glory days. "I grew up in this state," he said. "I remember when Michigan was the pride of America."

John McCain: It wasn't government's job to protect buggy factories and haberdashers when cars replaced carriages and men stopped wearing hats. But it is government's job to help workers get the education and training they need for the new jobs that will be created by new businesses in this new century.

Stay in touch

Sign up for our free newsletter

More from Streetsblog Los Angeles

UCLA Report Shows How Freeway Construction Last Century Was Used to Destroy and Divide Communities of Color

“Understanding the history of racism in freeway development can inform restorative justice in these areas.”

November 26, 2025

Wednesday’s Headlines

ICE, Vernon sues Metro, first Measure HLA Board of Public Works appeals, Metro LIFE program, gondola, Santa Monica vs. Waymo, Pasadena, car-nage and more

November 26, 2025

CicLAvia Melrose Avenue meets Stranger Things Season 5 – Open Thread

Tens of thousands of people enjoyed a car-free Melrose Avenue and... Hey was that a demogorgon that just rode past me?

November 25, 2025

Tuesday’s Headlines

ICE, Burbank, Inglewood, Santa Monica vs. Waymo, Pasadena, OC, car-nage, and more

November 25, 2025

Metro November 2025 Board Committee Round-Up: Gondola, Valley Light Rail, Open Streets, and More

More open streets funding (maybe), East San Fernando Valley rail, battery-electric buses, and second time around gondola approval

November 21, 2025
See all posts