Politics & Cars Do Mix: Drivers of Gas Guzzling Large SUVs Support Bush, Kerry Finds Votes Among Drivers of Small Import Vehicles

Links Between What Candidates Drive and What Their Supporters Drive Also Noted

IRVINE, Calif., Oct. 4 -- The No. 1 consumer automotive information site, Kelley Blue Book releases the results of a new Presidential poll today, showing that what you drive may affect who you vote for in the upcoming presidential election. According to the new study, if you drive a Mercury, Ford, GMC or Chevy, you'll likely be voting for President Bush in the November 2 Presidential election. If you drive a Hyundai, Toyota or a Subaru, you'll likely punch your voting card in the Senator John Kerry box. While the poll found Independent candidate Ralph Nader did not carry the vote among any brand, he did garner the most support from drivers of the now defunct GM brand Oldsmobile. Kelley Blue Book administered the poll on its Web site (www.kbb.com) to determine how American drivers plan to vote in the 2004 Presidential election based on what they drive.

The study also shows that voters support candidates with similar vehicles to their own. The President has made it known that he drives a Ford F-250 on his ranch in Crawford, Texas. That being said, it may be no surprise that Bush is finding heavy support from drivers of large SUVs and full-size pick-up trucks like the Chevy Suburban or Ford F-Series trucks. While Senator Kerry's family owns several cars, he is best known for driving an old Dodge convertible around Washington D.C. The Kelley Blue Book study shows Kerry snagging votes from just over half of convertible drivers. While the Blue Book believes Nader drives a hybrid vehicle, five of six hybrid drivers participating in this study are squarely in Kerry's corner.

"Clinton won in both 1992 and 1996 by appealing to 'minivan soccer moms,'" said Rick Wainschel, vice president, Kelley Blue Book Marketing Research. "The fact that Kerry is currently trailing nearly 3-to-1 among minivan 'security-moms' in our 2004 poll, should be of some concern to his political camp."

Overall poll results show President Bush winning the election among drivers by 20 points.

   *  58.6 percent of drivers plan to vote for President George Bush

   *  38.3 percent of drivers plan to vote for Senator John Kerry

   *  2.2 percent of drivers plan to vote for Ralph Nader

   *  0.8 percent of drivers plan to vote for someone else altogether

"We ran this same poll four years ago and correctly predicted that Bush would edge out Al Gore," said Stephen Henson, executive vice president, sales and marketing, Kelley Blue Book. "Bush can win again if he goes into key swing states, like Michigan, Ohio and Wisconsin and gets out the 'big truck' vote."

The study was administered on the company's Web site www.kbb.com, which attracts more car buyers than any other site in America, and analyzed by Kelley Blue Book Marketing Research. Survey respondents include 2,500 car owners from across the United States. The study was completed at the end of September 2004 to determine correlations between what people are driving and how they intend to vote in the 2004 U.S. Presidential election.