pandabear wrote:
He's talking about cars because car manufacturing is (or used to be) important in Michigan, where he is campaigning.
Yes, he is trying to pander. But any normal person would say something different. Remember, he has had time to prepare this speech.
When he talks about his ability to recognise a car from a certain part, he is really talking about an ability or hobby that he used to have. It's strange, obscure, and something that he is proud of. He even makes the point that he isn't so good at doing it with Japanese cars. At this point, he is way beyond pandering. He is telling a true story about his life that people cannot relate to. How many people make a habit of guessing cars from car parts?
I considered myself a misfit because I was a rare adolescent male who was NOT obsessed with cars. So these car things screams 'normal' to me. Though a friend in my adolesence who was my opposite, and who could spot a 68 impala in a movie was probably adhd-but I digress. And that thing about japanese cars is a deliberate clever pitch to american auto workers who fear foriegn competion-a clever code planted for part of his audience- nothing to do with guiless enthusiasm for a hobby! That remark was actually very clever and very deliberate pandering!
28 Sep 2012, 6:09 am
