Get Your Kudos Here.(NEWS)

Byline: Kevin A. Wilson

WITH ONLY TWO YEARS BEtween elections, congressional representatives never stop running for office. So when it comes time to decide whether, or how, to help domestic automakers out of the current jam, showing them what they can take credit for before the next election cycle seems important.

It takes two to four years to bring a new car to market, but that won't matter when your local House rep fronts up in autumn 2010 to take credit for these breakthroughs:

The 2010 Ford Fiesta. This is the small car America "wants. Never mind that the Toyota Camry and the Honda Accord outsell the Toyota Corolla and Yaris and the Honda Civic and Fit combined. America wants small, dammit, because the people who say so say so, and they live in big cities where small cars are so cute viewed from the back seats of their limos.

Ford has been saying for more than a year that the Fiesta will come to the States once it gets into production in Mexico. Ford has been beavering away for years to get this and the 2011 Focus into the U.S. market. If gasoline is only $1.10 a gallon when they get here, the government will create some consumer incentive to make it worth their while, right? Sure, right after they stop pounding their chests about how they're responsible for Detroit's new small cars.

The 2010 Ford Fusion hybrid. It rolled out at the Los Angeles auto show even while Detroit execs were being slapped around in D.C., but it won't come to market until spring. Ford may not even take any money from the feds before then, but trust me, the politicos will be taking ...