Chevy Volt 'Punching Bag' as GOP Slams Obama on Green-Energy Subsidies

"Move over, Solyndra. Conservatives opposed to the Obama administration's spending on clean energy have a new whipping boy.

The electric Chevrolet Volt is the new focus of angry conservative blog posts, testy congressional hearings and joking videos. And Republican presidential candidates Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich have taken shots at the car's puny sales and size, with Gingrich jeering, 'You can't put a gun rack on a Volt.'

The Volt, critics say, represents another failed investment by President Obama in a clean-energy effort, following on the heels of the more than half-a-billion dollars from the stimulus sent to the now-bankrupt solar equipment company Solyndra. That the Volt is produced by General Motors Co., a company still partially owned by the government after the 2009 bailout, only adds fuel to conservatives' ire.

'It becomes a campaign issue because it's woven into the narrative that this is what President Obama's administration does: It provides enormous subsidies and puts billions of dollars into green energy that the public doesn't want,' Lansing, Mich.-based Republican strategist Steve Mitchell said."

Jason Plautz reports for Greenwire February 28, 2012.

SEE ALSO:

"Michigan and Arizona: Bruising GOP Primaries Brighten Obama’s Prospects" (National Journal)

"Rising Energy Prices Could Help Write the Outcome in Mich. Primary" (ClimateWire)

"GM Shoots Back At Newt Gingrich: You Can Put A Gun Rack In A Volt" (Huffington Post)

"Yes You Can Put a Gun Rack in a Volt" (CBS News)

"Romney Says Volt Is 'Idea Whose Time Has Not Come'" (WXYZ ABC 7 Action News)

"Democrats Seize on  Romney Volt Comment" (Michigan Radio)

"Romney Campaign Defends Volt Criticism, Says Slow Sales Suggest Its 'Time Has Not Come'" (M Live)

"Obama Slams Romney In Auto Worker Speech on Michigan Primary Day" (Fox)

"Obama’s Michigan Machinations" (Slate)

"Mitt Romney's Decisive Michigan Win Won't Be Enough To Oust Obama" (Guardian)