I'm not sure if my journey in politics is parallel to the cars I have owned over what now covers quite a few years or if it's just a matter of circumstance where any parallel is purely coincidental. Cars and politics have stereotypes whether they are factual or not. What do you think when you see someone driving a Volvo wagon, a Prius or VW bus with flowers painted all over it? And you might have a particular political thought about someone driving any new American pick-up of any kind, a Cadillac Escalade or a Hummer with the special order machine gun mounts. Then of course, anyone riding a motorcycle in the winter snow of Colorado has to be an independent.
Studies show that Republicans do prefer domestic pick-ups and democrats prefer small foreign sedans or tiny SUV's. It used to be that car ownership paralleled social status and income, or personality type. Those were the good old days. But if there is some direct political association in my journey, I must say that it wasn't all that clear to me at the time. Pre-politically, I had a '53 Chevy (blew the motor), a 57 Chevy (wrecked), a '58 Chevy (just died), a '61 Pontiac (can't remember) and a '65 Chevy wagon, dark blue with black interior (too many miles). Politically I've driven a Chevelle, a Toyota camper, a Camaro, a Volvo wagon, a Dodge van, an old Buick, and a Hyundai to name most of them in no particular order. Currently, I drive a Ford Explorer (Bronco Orange) or as some call it - an upgrade from a coffin on wheels.
Then I first became political many years ago when I put a George McGovern for president bumper sticker on my Volvo 1800. I was a student at a fundamentalist Bible school, had a family, worked in a hospital and had served in Vietnam. I slowly found out that others had political concerns and like every war, the first casualty was the truth. I at first talked about my experience but soon realized no one was listening. They mostly wanted me to affirm or validate what they already believed. I was considered as unpatriotic - but ignorantly so. I could live with that. So it wasn't until near the end of my senior year at the Bible school that another student, whom I considered a friend, said that it was God's will for Nixon to be re-elected.
That was my first encounter with the God and country politics of the religious right with emphasis on RELIGIOUS and RIGHT. Of course most of that blew over my head. All I knew was that peace in Vietnam was nothing more than a slow surrender. It took a while to fill in the Left-Right political playbook and come to be in opposition to both. But it was the militant fundamentalists who stood out the most with their "my way or the highway" tactics. They loved pointing out what was of God and what wasn't. But even more dogmatically, they loved to say what being Born Again meant. It was forever the main belief and experience in Evangelicalism, Billy Graham Crusades, and Chick Tracts. And perhaps first heard of by many from an interview with Jimmy Carter in Playboy magazine which both irked and amused many of the faithful.
Yet, somewhere along the ever expanding line of Evangelical development (I say somewhere because I don't believe patient zero has been identified yet) and in the midst of it all the posturing for position, many of the fundamentalists who came out of the fight against modernism in the mainline churches added the political component and it worked quite well for them. Yes, this is simple understanding, but it really never gets too complex. They wanted what others had - imposition of values, morals and cultural beliefs through law.
So when repealing abortion was used as a political hook, many believers saw it as their God-given duty to support it until later when it became their only duty. Even if it was to the extent of supporting the ridiculous. Even if it was against Biblical teaching. To which I say, "WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED?" ...It's as if Ayn Rand had been born again. Some Evangelicals have always been against having to wear political blinders and some are now casting them aside. But I'm still wondering what the dynamic is where God elects politicians. My brother used to say that when a Republican won it was God's will based on a lifting up and taking down principle. But when a Democrat won, he said the people got what they deserved. I wasn't as sure as he was that the Bible was written with a focus on the United States.
All of this made me think if I'll have a Post-political time period. If so, what car should I drive? If I wanted to get a step ahead, I should drive around in a black Cadillac hearse carrying my ready-to-go pre-chosen casket. That would send the right post-political message but for obvious reasons, it better speaks of our politics today. Therefore, my choice would be a Ford Crown Victoria Police Interceptor, fully equipped, black and white, with the number 54. I think it would be the perfect vehicle to go four miles to my little town to get a gallon of milk and a 5 loaf bag of Rhodes Bake-N-Serve Frozen White Bread. And then, after making numerous false arrests and after finishing my last trip to nowhere in particular, I would clearly understand the parallel. ...And maybe finally admit that I've gone through way too many cars.
