Rachel Maddow's Love Affair with Ford Trucks
Rachel Maddow's chic eyewear and urbane demeanor may not evoke the image of a lifelong truck owner but the doyenne of cable news still has a few surprises up her sleeve.
RELATED: Keith Olbermann's Not Done with MSNBC Yet
"I'm a Ford partisan," she tells The Atlantic Wire. "I've had a couple of Rangers, but now as the dog has grown to the size of a small pony, his seating demands in the truck have also grown and we've got an F150."
RELATED: Jeopardy! Contestants Don't Know Rachel Maddow
In a segment on last night's show discussing the similiarties between a Ford F-150 advertisement and Ron Paul's latest campaign spot, the MSNBC host made an off-hand remark noting that "I have one myself," referring to the full-size American pickup.
RELATED: Rachel Maddow Is Not Over-Rated
To the casual viewer, it could've gone unnoticed. But to her loyal followers, it was an inspiring revelation. "Rachel Maddow owns a Ford F-150," wrote a fan, live blogging her show. "Omg I thought I couldn’t be any deeper in butchy girl love but I was wrong, jfc."
RELATED: Spike Lee Goes Minimal for MSNBC's 'Lean Forward' Campaign
Another commenter on the Maddow Blog was just happy she had something in common with the liberal host. "I had a Datsun truck once ... and a most wondrous Mazda B2000 pickup, one of the best cars I've ever owned."
RELATED: The Three Hoodies of Rachel Maddow
Maddow, who splits her time between her Greenwich Village apartment and Northampton, Massachusetts, tells us the vehicle comes in handy during the New England summers. "I live in rural Western Massachusetts, and we don't have trash pickup --we have to take everything to the dump ourselves. In the winter it's no big deal, but in the sweaty summer, the trash is an olfactory unkindness to a car trunk. Hence the open-bed pickup."
For those hyperventilating about the truck's carbon foot print, breath easy. "The gas mileage is awful, but it also doesn't get driven many miles," she said. "I take the train back and forth to NYC."
Given that Ford is ending production of the Ranger at the end of this month, is she feeling a little nostalgic about the truck model she left behind? "[It] makes me feel sentimental about it. But truth be told, it was kind of an insane vehicle -- it was so top heavy it always felt a little like driving a car on its tip-toes," she said. "The F150 just feels like you and the dog are driving a small sturdy building down the road."