In Phoenix: Political hardball

Phoenix -- Pat Buchanan provided the political fireworks to help kick off the 2009 ProDealer Industry Summit (PDIS) here yesterday, day one of the three-day event.

Speaking to a generally receptive audience of some 150 pro dealers and suppliers, Buchanan spent a good portion of his address analyzing what he called "the demise of the influence" of President Barack Obama. "We are a center-right nation," Buchanan said.

But later in the same speech, Buchanan credited Obama for avoiding a rushed military response to advances in Iranian nuclear power. Buchanan shared a variety of strong opinions, including:

• The housing market downturn: "Frankly, I don't know exactly what [we] should do, but I'll tell you this: [We] can't get back to that subprime nonsense. We can't get back to no-down-payment loans. These almost brought down our entire economy."

On the positive side of the ledger for the U.S. housing market in specific and the economy in general, Buchanan cited the growing U.S. population and the U.S. culture of homeownership.

"When housing comes back, then I think everything really comes back," he added.

• Economic protectionism: "I think globalization is what's killing this economy."

• The 2010 elections: "The Republican Party is not dead. In 2010, bet on a Republican comeback in the House of Representatives."

• The war in Afghanistan: The president has many difficult choices ahead relating to Afghanistan, particularly given that country's reputation in history: "Afghanistan is the place where great empires go to die."

On Thursday and Friday, the PDIS will bring several educational presentations to dealers, including an economic outlook for 2010 presented by Yelena Takhtamanova, an economist for the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco, and a session dedicated to developing a dealer-builder green partnership.