Bush alienates the NASCAR crowd

[EstimatedProphet]

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- President Bush flew to the Daytona 500 on Sunday in Air Force One, and, by all accounts, the people sitting in the grandstands loved him. He "was greeted … by a largely adoring crowd that sees in him the values it holds dear," according to The Washington Post.
Many of the race's fans -- including Howard Dean's famously sought-after constituent, the guy with the Confederate flag slapped on the back of his pickup -- shared a distaste for Democrats. For Bob Hargett, who's 57, the Stars and Bars aren't just silk-screened across the back window of his brand-new silver Dodge; they're also tattooed on his left forearm, flanked by the words "Southern Pride." What does he think of Dean?

"I can't stand him," he says. "He's a nutcase."

Here, even a Wesley Clark endorses Bush. Clark, 22, a physical-education major at Gordon College, in Barnesville, Ga. plans to vote along family lines. "My cousin Corey's serving over there in Iraq," Clark says, "and he has support, and I guess I have support for him. So I'm going to vote for George Bush."

A recent ABC News analysis of the exit polls from the 2000 election concluded that the "NASCAR dads" aren't swing voters at all, but, rather, a small and solid part of Bush's core constituency. It may not be worth it for Democrats to pursue these fans, some experts say.

Apparently they weren't in Daytona.

Just before the race began, people were becoming impatient to get to their seats, and the increased security prompted by Bush's visit was slowing things down. To my left, I heard someone ask, "Who's voting for Bush?" Someone else instantly responded, "Not me." I turned back to see who'd spoken, but I was no match for the hundreds of people behind me pressing onward.

Then, suddenly, we stopped.

A few feet away, I could see police officers and orange-vested security agents holding the crowd back. It wasn't long before everyone realized we were being delayed until Bush had completed his entrance into the stadium.

After only a minute's pause, people started grumbling. Soon, they started yelling at the security detail. A few minutes more and they'd turned their ire on the president himself.

"We want to see the race, not Bush!" shouted someone in the crowd.

"Why didn't that SOB stay in Washington?" screamed Doug Shelby, the loudest of the voices.

More

[jamesinca]

1. Those people need to be in free speech zones

Wait, Bush went to Daytona not a hand selected crowd, never mind. Bush should not go out in public, it will be better for his approval ratings.

[CatWoman]

7. poor deluded idiotic fucker

he's restricted to military audiences now.

And even THEY are staged.

[PaDUer]

17. Absolutely!

CatWoman, you always tell it as it is! :-)

[spanone]

24. Go CatWoman!!!!!!

[mlawson]

2. Of course. It's absurd to assume that all fans of a certain sport

are all redneck, raving repukes! I know a few NASCAR fans, and they are all Dems. Many many people, including educated professional ones, are NASCAR fans; it has nothing to do with their political positions, so far as I have ever discovered.

[fishnfla]

3. Its a rough crowd there, always

First race of the season and all, everyone's on edge.

[meti57b]

4. all of that sounds like good news!

[arewethereyet]

5. Even the beer vendors get razzed if they're in the way

they won't have remembered any of it after the race. I wouldn't make much of this.

[Norbert]

6. Keeping these people from a race is like

whenever a press conference (what are those??) happens in the middle of a week day afternoon. Soap opera fans go nuts. It's the same here. I hope the idiot makes several more visits to NASCAR land so he piss of most of the NASCAR dads.

[pintobean]

8. Air Force One

photo shopped

[kskiska]

9. I know someone who was there

and he said that * was booed.

[roscoeroscoe]

10. please more detail!!!!!

scenes from real life, not media manipulation! i would love to see the c-span tape of the crowd...

[Punkingal]

11. Yes, he was booed....

my son talked to a friend of his who was there. He said there was at least as many boos as there were cheers, which I consider very good news.

[K8-EEE]

12. Well That's Nice To Hear!

The way they are portrayed in the media, they all worship GWB -- but that is just hard to buy, about any large group really. Hurray for the non-idiot NASCAR fans.

[arewethereyet]

13. I've been trying to tell you guys this for I don't know HOW long

its NOT a GOP sport. But if you guys don't back off the NASCAR bashing it could be !

[democratreformed]

15. Yep, my hubby's a racing fanatic and he's not Repub.

He's such a fanatic that it drives me nuts. My mom was too and she was a Democrat as well. I like it but kind of lost interest when my mom died and my guy (Mark Martin) failed to do well.

[PROGRESSIVE1]

14. Good for the non "GOP" NASCAR fans!

.

[lnmike]

16. My parents are libruls like me

And their TV is on NASCAR every big race (except for NFL Sundays).

[Poiuyt]

18. Hey Inmike, welcome to DU!

[Ksec]

19. I saw an interveiw with a driver

I cant remember his name. Anyway the interveiw was the sos about the car and the crew. They got int the Presidents visit and the interveiwer finally ask him if he voted for Bush . The driver looked at him like he was stupid and said well of course I voted for Bush- like this was a given and he was dumb even asking such a question. They aint votin for no Yankee Dem. believe that. I dont understand southern people. Its like they have some hangup about losin the Civil War or something. Most Yankees dont even consider someones state or area. Southerners base their decisions on this stuff.
Ive heard the excuses . None makes sense.
*shrugs*

[Elwood P Dowd]

21. NASCAR is not just a southern sport

Most of the drivers today come from California, Indiana, Wisconsin, and other non-southern states. Pennsylvania has more NASCAR fans than Alabama, Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, and South Carolina. NASCAR now sponsors Nextel Cup and Bush Series races in California, Indiana, Michigan, Pennsylvania, New York, Delaware, Kansas, Nevada, Wisconsin, New Hampshire, Arizona, Missouri, and Illinois. The biggest race of the year attendance wise is in Indiana where 300,000 attend. Michigan draws over 160,000 for each of their two races. Even Dover, Delaware draws 150,000 fans (most from New Jersey, Pennsylvania, & New York).

You guys are totally oblivious to the growth of NASCAR and the fan base.
Sure, it's still big in the south, but the vast majority of new fans embracing the sport are not from the south. The fastest growth is outside of the south. Why do you think NASCAR keeps adding new tracks out of their traditional territory?

I've talked to fans who attended the Daytona 500, and they told me about the booing. They also told me there were more than a few flipping the finger to Bushit. The drivers like Bushit because he invites them to the White House and says he's a NASCAR fan. Also, many of the sponsors are corporate donors to the chimp, so they brainwash the drivers. Between the work schedule these guys have and the brainwashing, they just don't have much time to keep up with politics and economic issues. I did notice that several of the drivers never attempted to approach Bush before the start of the race. From what I understand, many of them thought it was just a big political stunt to get votes and didn't appreciate the chimp being there. He was not invited.

[Tennessee_tarheel]

23. yankees vs. Southerners

to be honest it wouldn't be fair to start this up under this thread or maybe even this forum but I can explain it you if you've got about 2 or three days :-)

[loudsue]

20. Well...we live in the South. My almost-hubby watches NASCAR...

He's NOT voting for bush.

His asst. manager at work is a former VERY RADICAL repuke, NASCAR fan. This time, he says he will vote for ANYBODY BUT BUSH.

Southerners AREN'T STUPID, any more than any other region of the country is stupid, as a group. The culture here is just very, very traditional. They like what they consider "decent". In fact, most of 'em are really into folks being "decent". They are also very sensitive to people's behavior. Lots of 'em hated Clinton, because they thought he was sleezy, and then Clinton did everything he could to prove to them they were right.

In fact, I was about to say that we could still kiss the Christian Coalition folks goodbye, when I remembered my very closest, oldest friend in the south. She's VERY Christian Coalition. Waaay Southern Baptist. She's also disabled. And...she has made it VERY clear that she HATES what is happening in the White House, and she will NOT be voting for bush.

Three down....several million to go!!

:kick::kick::kick::kick:

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