The politics of NASCAR
As most of y'all know, I'm originally from North Carolina. North Carolina is four things:
- Tobacco
- Furniture
- College basketball
- NASCAR
Well maybe in this post-New South era, you could replace "tobacco" with "banking," but whatever. Anyway, does anyone remember Howard Dean's abortive flirtation with the NASCAR crowd? Heh, I'd link to the main site ("www.teamdeanracing.com"), but it seems to be defunct. Something tells me the domain could be had for a song, in case anyone's interested.
Via Instapundit, I found this Radioblogger post about NASCAR and political endorsements. My God, how did Howard Dean ever expect to make inroads in this terrain?
NASCAR luminaries who have endorsed the president include...
...former Cup champion, NASCAR legend and Fox Sports broadcaster Darrell Waltrip, Michael Waltrip, Geoffrey Bodine, Brendan Gaughan, Jeff Green, Kevin Harvick, Kasey Kahne, Bobby Labonte, Terry Labonte, Jamie McMurray, Joe Nemechek, Kyle Petty, Ken Schrader, Brian Vickers, and Rusty Wallace.Many of the top owners in the sport are also on board. They include Jack Roush, Teresa Earnhardt, Richard Childress, Robert Yates, and J.D. and Washington Redskins coach Joe Gibbs.
A commendable list of quality people that recognize what a majority of Americans recognize: George Bush is the right guy for the next four years, and John Kerry is wrong, has always been wrong, and has a greak likelihood of being wrong in the future.
...
Nine of the ten top drivers in the chase to the championship this season have come out and endorsed the President. Nine out of ten.
The author then goes on to express his "outrage" that Jeff Gordon hasn't lined up as well. Mind you, there's no indication that Gordon endorsed Kerry, but the whole thing just goes to show you... well, it shows you why www.teamdeanracing.com/ gives you a "HTTP 404 - File not found" error.
Comments
That poster is a jerk. If Jeff Gordon wants to stay out of politics or even endorse Kerry, that is his right. I would make the same statement if a folk singer from Massachusetts wanted to endorse Bush. When Bruce Springsteen sang for "change", he was denounced on this blog and his reasoning for doing so was mocked on the Laura Ingraham show. Yet pressuring Nascar drivers to vote for Bush, even wishing that they get into wrecks if they don't is wrong. Imagine if a liberal wished that Britney Spears would die in a freak stage accident just because she supported Bush. I doubt that Laura Ingraham would let that go.
Posted by: PE | October 20, 2004 03:40 PM
OK, he means he wants Gordon to "wreck" as "finishing poorly".. Or else he won't support him.
I still say the poster is a punk.
I doubt that people in Massachusetts stopped cheering for Tom Brady after he showed his support for Bush. Kerry was talking about how he admired Tom Brady when he was asked about Brady's political views. Kerry said properly that was his right.
Posted by: PE | October 20, 2004 03:47 PM
PE, you pointedly avoided the gist of Barry's post. To wit: the folly of Howard dean somehow believing he could garner the NASCAR vote, historically a very conservative one.
You will recall the ridicule that we from the right heaped on the ever-optimistic Cyberian for calling it a BRILLIANT manoeuver when, as the post indicated, it was no such thing.
Posted by: mal | October 20, 2004 04:34 PM
I understand, Mal. I personally didn't think that much of Howard Dean's southern strategy. Still, it was Dean's right to try and I give Dean credit for not writing off a region or a mindset just because it's traditionally Republican. But don't you think the fact that Dean is out of the race has a little to do with the web site being down?
For all I know, if he was still in it, Dean would probably enter a few races and smash up a few cars while doing so.
Posted by: PE | October 20, 2004 04:52 PM
Take it easy, PE. You seem a bit worked up. Don't let the silly season get to you.
Posted by: CRB | October 20, 2004 07:42 PM