For my second look at the issue, I thought I'd look locally. What I did was tabulate the Chrysler dealers in the greater Metro Detroit area which are on the closing list, and also the ones on the stay-open list and take note of their political donations. Here are the results:
Closing:
Dealer, Donations
FORTINBERRY R
MCDONALD R
MONICATTI R
PENSKE R
RUSSO R
TAMAROFF R
VIVIANO R
Remaining:
Dealer, Donations
DEEBY R
FISCHER R
MCINERNEY R+D
MEADE AFIT PAC
MILOSCH R
MOORE NADA PAC
PENSKE R
RIEHL NADA PAC
ROBBINS R
SCOTT R
SNETHKAMP R
VIVIANO R
Metro Detroit Chrysler dealers who donated did so overwhelmingly to the Republicans.
The only example of a Metro Detroit Chrysler dealer who gave money to Democrats was "Hoot" McInerny, who gave large amounts to both sides. It would also be very bad press for Chrysler to try to axe McInerny's dealership, because he is a well known local personality and a big philanthropist.
I don't think you can argue any political bias in Metro Detroit, based on the data.
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Read a comment from a big Detroit dealer over the weekend -- forget which one -- who clearly explained that the reason why one of his dealerships was shut down was that it sat on a 4.6 acre lot, and thus although it had high volume it had no room for expansion. By comparision, nearby dealerships (including another owned by the same dealer) had were on 20+ acre sites.
Furthermore, all indications are that both Chrysler and GM have wanted to pare down their dealer lists for a long time now (for the economic reasons I noted in a previous post), and are using this crisis as the opportunity to do just that without having to go through the legal hoops usually required.
Alas, this appears to be just another manufactured political controversy.
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