Obama: If you want to win, quit shooting yourself in the foot!

The Democratic candidate's tough rhetoric backfired in Detroit. Plus, griping about gas prices.

May 11, 2007 - Nine years ago this week, Al Gore warmed up his run for the presidency by making a visit to Motown and speaking to the Detroit Economic Club. I covered that speech and recall that Gore was entering hostile territory. Detroit, an SUV boomtown in those days, was deeply skeptical of the vice president, who famously called for the death of the internal-combustion engine. But Gore, keen on endorsements from Big Labor and contributions from wealthy auto execs, changed his tune in Detroit. "Here in Motor City, we recognize that cars have done more than fuel our commerce," he rhapsodized. "Cars have freed the American spirit, and given us the chance to chase our dreams."
My, how times have changed. This week, Sen. Barack Obama attempted to fuel his presidential run with a scalding speech to the Detroit Economic Club, castigating Motown's big wheels for driving our dependence on foreign oil. "For years, while foreign competitors were investing in more fuel-efficient technology for their vehicles, American automakers were spending their time investing in bigger, faster cars," Obama told an audience stunned into silence after greeting him with a standing ovation."Whenever an attempt was made to raise our fuel efficiency standards, the auto companies would lobby furiously against it, spending millions to prevent the very reform that could've saved their industry. Even as they've shed thousands of jobs and billions in profits over the last few years, they've continued to reward failure with lucrative bonuses for CEOs."
"Sen. Obama embarrassed himself in Detroit with his lack of understanding of the problems facing the automobile industry, and what it will really take to fix them," the conservative-leaning Detroit News said in an editorial beside a political cartoon mocking Obama for criticizing a Detroit SUV that turns out to be a Toyota Land Cruiser. During his speech, the auto execs in the crowd—and there were many—began muttering that he didn't know what he was talking about. (One factual gaffe getting a lot of traction is Obama's assertion that Japanese cars average 45mpg, when the actual mileage is closer 30mpg). "It was definitely uncomfortable," says Eric Foster, a Detroit political consultant who sat near tables full of auto execs.

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