# Politicians: driving a pickup truck does not mean you're better than anybody else **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [January 20, 2010, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/politicians-driving-a-pickup-truck-does-not-mean-youre-better-than-anybody-else/525700 "2010-01-20T15:18:28Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2010, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/politicians-driving-a-pickup-truck-does-not-mean-youre-better-than-anybody-else/525700/21 "2010-01-20T17:51:57Z")
> [@](#): > > Mr. President, unfortunately in this economy, not everybody can buy a truck. My goal is to change that by cutting spending, lowering taxes and letting people keep more of their own money. Yes. Unfortunately, not everybody can afford to buy their daughter a horse. Go, you man-of-the-people, go! ---
**Author:** ![Shot\_From\_Guns](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ccd318/32.png) [@Shot\_From\_Guns](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shot_From_Guns)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2010, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/politicians-driving-a-pickup-truck-does-not-mean-youre-better-than-anybody-else/525700/22 "2010-01-20T17:53:55Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > Bet it’s got an ejector seat. I strongly approve of any politician with a vehicle that has (a) an ejector seat, (b) a normal roof, and (c) a conspicuous but poorly labeled ejector button. > [@Airman\_Doors\_USAF](#): > > The irony of this that every time an Everyman goes to Washington he gets captured by the system and turns into that which he says he is not. Oh come on now, that’s not always the case. Sometimes they’re just grossly incompetent. > [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > Plenty of English people own horses and don’t require pickups. Perhaps American horses are just fatter or something. Have you ever \*seen \*England? It’s _tiny_. They probably just \*ride \*them everywhere. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2010, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/politicians-driving-a-pickup-truck-does-not-mean-youre-better-than-anybody-else/525700/23 "2010-01-20T18:03:30Z")
> [@Zeriel](#): > > I suspect demographic differences and land availability are part of this–and I guarantee you that if there’s a horse, someone in the chain of that horse’s caretakers is driving something approximating a truck for part of the maintenance of said horse. Sport-utility vehicles, mostly - Range Rovers and the like. Not pickups, though. ---
**Author:** ![Jack\_Batty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jack_batty/32/3201_2.png) [@Jack\_Batty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jack_Batty)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2010, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/politicians-driving-a-pickup-truck-does-not-mean-youre-better-than-anybody-else/525700/24 "2010-01-20T18:06:00Z")
Whether he needs to haul a horse around or not, I’m betting a Massachusetts state senator doesn’t \*just \*own a shitty pick-up truck. But, he couldn’t be caught showing up to a conservative rally driving a BMW now could he? Chrissakes, he might as well get out of it wearing a Che Gueverra thirt with big mouthful of arugula. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2010, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/politicians-driving-a-pickup-truck-does-not-mean-youre-better-than-anybody-else/525700/25 "2010-01-20T18:16:34Z")
He’s a real estate attorney. He might have a fleet of shitty pickup trucks. ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2010, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/politicians-driving-a-pickup-truck-does-not-mean-youre-better-than-anybody-else/525700/26 "2010-01-20T18:43:41Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > He’s a real estate attorney. He might have a fleet of shitty pickup trucks. Real estate attorney? Aren’t they the ones who draw up – or at least their office people draw up – the notices threatening tenants with eviction for trying to withold the $600 bucks they paid out of their own pockets to fix a broken toilet intake valve? ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2010, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/politicians-driving-a-pickup-truck-does-not-mean-youre-better-than-anybody-else/525700/27 "2010-01-20T18:45:22Z")
Yes, but they’re also the people you call when you get notices threatening tenants with eviction for trying to withold the $600 bucks they paid out of their own pockets to fix a broken toilet intake valve? ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2010, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/politicians-driving-a-pickup-truck-does-not-mean-youre-better-than-anybody-else/525700/28 "2010-01-20T18:47:48Z")
> [@Mr.Moto](#): > > The OP has a point. But going after the truck presents political risks. President Obama attacked the truck in a speech, and Brown was able to turn that around pretty effectively: That wasn’t “turning anything around,” it was a stupid non-sequitur, and an ignorant one as well, since Obama is already a tax cutter. Oh, and pretty much anyone can afford a truck, so that part isn’t even true. Obama 1 Brown 0 ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2010, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/politicians-driving-a-pickup-truck-does-not-mean-youre-better-than-anybody-else/525700/29 "2010-01-20T18:48:25Z")
Dukakis’ crappy old snowblower didn’t help \*him \*none. ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2010, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/politicians-driving-a-pickup-truck-does-not-mean-youre-better-than-anybody-else/525700/30 "2010-01-20T18:48:44Z")
> [@Lynn\_Bodoni](#): > > IMO, anyone who drives a pickup by choice rather than because s/he needs a pickup’s cargo capacity is generally saying that s/he doesn’t care about mileage or environmental impact. . I think we could say Massachusetts voted in global warming–for the whole country! I will say that when California voted in Arnold Schwarzenegger, we (a) didn’t inflict this folly on the rest of the country, and (b) Arnold, in spite of his own notorious Hummer, has been a lot more forward looking and constructive with regard to environmental policy than one would have expected. ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2010, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/politicians-driving-a-pickup-truck-does-not-mean-youre-better-than-anybody-else/525700/31 "2010-01-20T18:52:08Z")
> [@Icarus](#): > > Americans self identify strongly with our creation mythology - that we are rugged individualists who carved a nation out of the wilderness with the sweat of our brow and our bare hands. So we keep voting in faux cowboys and faux pioneers when the majority of us live in cities. It wouldn’t be so bad if they were _urban_ faux cowboys, because at least urban cowboys have a more relevant perspective on how and where most of us live. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2010, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/politicians-driving-a-pickup-truck-does-not-mean-youre-better-than-anybody-else/525700/32 "2010-01-20T18:54:23Z")
> [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](#): > > I will say that when California voted in Arnold Schwarzenegger, we (a) didn’t inflict this folly on the rest of the country, and (b) Arnold, in spite of his own notorious Hummer, has been a lot more forward looking and constructive with regard to environmental policy than one would have expected. Modifying one of his Hummers to run on biodiesel didn’t suddenly make the others green, you know. He has been surprisingly environment-friendly, but it seems to be more in the arena of environmental gestures than actual progress. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2010, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/politicians-driving-a-pickup-truck-does-not-mean-youre-better-than-anybody-else/525700/33 "2010-01-20T18:56:12Z")
> [@Mr.Moto](#): > > I don’t think Brown is an Everyman, but he likely needs the truck - his daughter is a competitive equestrian. Hauling horses and their supplies around can’t be done with a Prius. What kind of rich, elitist cocksucker can buy his daughter a bunch of horses and drive them around to snooty-ass “equestrian” events? Doesn’t that completely undermine his “everyman” schtick? ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2010, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/politicians-driving-a-pickup-truck-does-not-mean-youre-better-than-anybody-else/525700/34 "2010-01-20T18:58:08Z")
Yes, but he makes up for it by slaughtering one or two of the horses occasionally and having a cookout for the neighbors. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2010, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/politicians-driving-a-pickup-truck-does-not-mean-youre-better-than-anybody-else/525700/35 "2010-01-20T18:59:39Z")
Do people even read my posts anymore? ---
**Author:** ![Martin\_Hyde](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/47e85d/32.png) [@Martin\_Hyde](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martin_Hyde)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2010, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/politicians-driving-a-pickup-truck-does-not-mean-youre-better-than-anybody-else/525700/36 "2010-01-20T19:02:18Z")
I find it interesting owning a horse is considered elitist these days. When I was growing up in rural Virginia a lot of my neighbors owned horses. Most of these neighbors were extremely below the poverty line, and many of them lived the lifestyle they lived because a huge portion of their household food intake was self-produced (like **everyone** in that area, a lot of canning was done as well.) Most of the horses weren’t paid for, either, many of them were acquired through barter and trade. They also weren’t ridden by people who were competitive equestrians nor were they ever transported much further than they were ridden on their own four legs. ---
**Author:** ![Martin\_Hyde](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/47e85d/32.png) [@Martin\_Hyde](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martin_Hyde)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2010, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/politicians-driving-a-pickup-truck-does-not-mean-youre-better-than-anybody-else/525700/37 "2010-01-20T19:04:27Z")
I also own a pickup truck but rarely drive it. It has a lot of miles on it because it’s sole function is for hauling things that aren’t worth hiring movers to haul, for that reason it has 150,000 miles on it and since it is 100% a utility vehicle I don’t care that it’s old or lacking in the fashion department. I wouldn’t be surprised if Brown’s pickup truck is similar to mine in that regard. I make a good living and I own a nice car that is definitely more expensive than the average American’s vehicle, the pickup I own is a utility vehicle and not any attempt for me to put on some odd illusion that I’m someone I’m not. ---
**Author:** ![interface2x](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/c0e974/32.png) [@interface2x](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/interface2x)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2010, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/politicians-driving-a-pickup-truck-does-not-mean-youre-better-than-anybody-else/525700/38 "2010-01-20T19:05:24Z")
> [@Airman\_Doors\_USAF](#): > > It’s part of the standard Everyman gambit for politicians. He’s better than a career pol because he’s like you. That’s not it at all. It’s his sly, subtle way of saying “You know, if you vote for me, I might help you move sometime.” Then when you sign a new lease, where are they? ---
**Author:** ![Martin\_Hyde](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/47e85d/32.png) [@Martin\_Hyde](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martin_Hyde)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2010, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/politicians-driving-a-pickup-truck-does-not-mean-youre-better-than-anybody-else/525700/39 "2010-01-20T19:10:03Z")
Doing some research it looks like Brown drives a GMC Canyon, not a particularly popular truck, and also at retail of $30,000+ not on the cheap end of pickup trucks, either (or on the super-expensive.) The F-150 is America’s best selling pickup (at least it was last I checked), and while with options it can be upwards of $50,000, the configuration most people buy it in only sets you back $25,000 or so. Considering it has 200,000 miles on it and it is a 2005 GMC Canyon, I’d say Brown probably actually uses it every day. That’s a hefty amount of mileage for an infrequently used vehicle. ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2010, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/politicians-driving-a-pickup-truck-does-not-mean-youre-better-than-anybody-else/525700/40 "2010-01-20T19:11:12Z")
> [@Lynn\_Bodoni](#): > > IMO, anyone who drives a pickup by choice rather than because s/he needs a pickup’s cargo capacity is generally saying that s/he doesn’t care about mileage or environmental impact. My husband had a pickup…and he has a farm. Driving a shiny tricked out pickup around town is just a fashion statement, it doesn’t mean that the driver is an Everyman. I’m not remotely sure why, but I’ve long wanted a ratty, old pickup. Or a new one, since in my care it would be ratty and old sooner than later. Then I realized I’d become known as a guy with a truck and, valuing my weekends and back more than an inexplicable desire, I got over it. Now everybody in DC is gonna call Brown when they move or buy a new sofa. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/politicians-driving-a-pickup-truck-does-not-mean-youre-better-than-anybody-else/525700.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/politicians-driving-a-pickup-truck-does-not-mean-youre-better-than-anybody-else/525700.md?page=3)