Opinion: Petty controversy: Newt Gingrich vs. the Chevy Volt

The former House speaker suggests that the hybrid vehicle is too wimpy to handle a gun rack, provoking a smackdown from GM The story: Newt Gingrich was all up in General Motors' grill this week. The Republican presidential candidate branded GM's hybrid Chevy Volt an "Obama car" because "you can't put a gun rack in a Volt." His remark, clearly intended to tap into the Right's aversion to subsidizing green technology, prompted GM spokesman Selim Bingo to shoot back that you can equip the Volt with a gun rack. "The real question is, 'Why would you?'" he asked. "Seriously, when is the last time you saw a gun rack in any sedan?" To prove GM's claims, one enthusiastic Volt fan even created a video demonstrating the relative ease with which he installed a shiny gun rack in the hatch of his beloved hybrid. (Watch the clip below.)

The reaction: "See Newt? We're Americans, not American'ts!" says Tommy Christopher at Mediaite. "There are few problems we can't MacGyver our way out of with a trip to the hardware section of Target." Seriously though, says David Kiley at Aol Autos: Targeting hybrids as "weak, unmanly, or illegitimate" will only push consumers toward "gas-thirsty" cars that are bad for the environment. As for GM, says Fred Meier at USA Today, it had better be prepared to be "punch drunk" by the end of the campaign. "Democrats and Republicans both think they can score" political points with their respective positions on the auto bailout. Check out the Volt gun rack:

SEE MORE: G.M.'s record-smashing profits: 6 talking points

View this article on TheWeek.com Get 4 Free Issues of The Week

Thứ Sáu, 24 tháng 2, 2012

Petty controversy: Newt Gingrich vs. the Chevy Volt