Do as they say, not as they do!

Well we can already hear the rhetoric from the Senate hearings into Pro-American driving habits, circa 2006.

Sen. Foghorn ( R - anywhere) Have you now, or have you ever owned or driven an SUV.

President Kerry: Yes senator I do, but it belongs to my family, I only rode in it as a passenger.

(Much murmuring of Senators, aides and reporters, digital cameras whirring)

Earth Day 2004 and the Democratic Party candidate for President, Senator John Kerry was on the stump in Pittsburgh and Houston, shaking hands, making speeches and taking questions. Kerry took some time to answer a few conference call questions from reporters about his upcoming Jobs and more Jobs platform, which he plans to present to Rust Belt states shortly.

One enterprising reporter taking note of the fact that folks were celebrating Earth Day inquired as to whether the Senator indeed did own an SUV. Kerry said he personally did not, preferring to tool around in his Dodge 600 and Chrysler 300M. The Chevy Suburban is wife Teresa’s, they use it when they visit their second home in Idaho.

When asked about the Chevy, Kerry thought for a moment before answering and then declared in the best Clintonish fashion ”the family has it, I don’t have it”.

The candidate quickly turned the conversation around to being dedicated to buying American, claiming that it’s important that his family buy American vehicles and vowing to keep manufacturing jobs in the USA if elected. (Note to Paul Martin, prepare to worry about auto jobs in Ontario, protectionism is just around the corner!). The folks at Ford and GM might quibble with his personal tastes, as Chrysler is part of the Daimler family of industries in Germany.

Perhaps the Kerry's use the Suburban as part of his research on fuel consumption. Kerry has come out in the past in favor of higher fuel efficiency in order to reduce the nation’s dependence on foreign oil. He would like to see fuel economy standards reach 36 miles to the gallon by 2015.

Kerry did manage to find an environmentally friendly moment out of the hulking vision of gas guzzling SUVS and three car families. Kerry claims to have approached Ford to let him use a hybrid car as his campaign vehicle. At least until he gets to use that shiny black number that George is using right now. I can already here the defense if anyone questions the gas mileage on the presidential motorcade, “I don’t own it, but my employer does, have to drive the company car you know”

This incident brings back memories of Canadian Environment Minister David Andersons troubles with his fellow cabinet ministers. At the same time as he was chastising Canadians about their wasteful ways, his counterpart Herb Dhaliwal was motoring around Ottawa and Vancouver in not one, not two, not three but four vehicles, two Volvo's and two Chevy SUV's. The optics of it all lost on the government of the day.

After all it’s an age old adage in Politics “we should do as were told, not as they do”