With his clinching of the Democratic Party’s nomination for president last night, the biggest political question in motorsports can now be asked: Will Barack Obama attend a NASCAR race during the run up to next November’s presidential election? It is a perfectly legitimate question.
NASCAR has generally been considered a southern sport and its fans regarded as loyal members of the Republican base. George W. Bush, Dick Cheney, John McCain, and even Rudy Giuliani found their way to NASCAR races in the past, to link themselves with the voter base often referred to as the “NASCAR Dads”. We have to question, however, if any of those politicians attended a race because of something inherent to NASCAR that attracts Republican voters, or rather, if any time 150,000 southerners are together in one place, politicians will simply take advantage of the opportunity without knowing, or caring, why they are there.
The question regarding whether Barack Obama would be the first Democrat on the national stage to attend a NASCAR race since Bill Clinton got a chilly reception at Daytona in 1992 arises because this Democratic nominee, if you haven’t heard, is a little bit different. The child of a Kenyan father, Obama was raised by his white mother in Hawaii and spent parts of his childhood in Indonesia. The first-term senator from Illinois, a devout Christian and public servant who worked to improve living conditions in poor neighborhoods on Chicago’s south side, now attracts large groups of adoring fans to his powerful speeches wherever he goes. Nowhere is his popularity stronger than in the southern states. During the nominating process and a six-month tour of every U.S. state, he won the primary elections in 34 states including Alabama, South Carolina, Louisiana, Virginia, Texas, Mississippi, and North Carolina. He has collected more money for his presidential campaign from small donors than any candidate in history.
As such, a gathering of 150,000 southerners may seem like familiar and comfortable territory for Obama. And considering this is the same candidate who chose the site of the 2008 Republican National Convention for his victory speech after winning the Democratic primary over Hillary Clinton, Obama doesn’t seem to be one who would shy away from addressing NASCAR’s loyal voters on their own turf.
It is no secret the majority of working-class voters in the south are dissatisfied with the current course of the Republican-led country. As of this week, gas prices are officially $3.98 a gallon. The percentage of home foreclosures is at a 20-year high. The reason we went into Iraq was because of weapons of mass destruction, there were none, and we still have no plan to leave. The few billion dollars in reconstruction loans for New Orleans have been caught up in red tape, while $9 billion in reconstruction money for Iraq was given to American contractors without conditions, never spent, and now can’t be found.
George W. Bush can’t go near a NASCAR race ever since the 2004 4th of July Daytona Pepsi 400 race with his drive in the pace car and then dramatic exit in Air Force One from the runway behind the track. At that time, his approval ratings due to bungling the Iraq war had not yet tanked and the financial crisis and high gas prices were still on the horizon. If he were to attend a NASCAR race now, he would undoubtedly be booed on national TV and anti-war protesters would line his entrance route. His approval ratings are at an all-time low and currently at the lowest point ever measured for a U.S. president. Over 80% of Americans say the country is headed in the wrong direction.
70 year-old Senator John McCain, Barack Obama’s challenger for the presidency in November, recently suggested he should take the much younger Senator Obama to Iraq for his first trip to show him around. Barack Obama laughed it off as a political stunt. But what is most interesting is that McCain never repeated the offer and rumor has it that his advisors told him it could backfire because it is highly likely Obama could be greeted by tens of thousands of cheering troops who want their tours shortened, the war ended, and some money for college when they get home - all things that Obama is calling for and McCain has rejected.
The last question about Obama attending a NASCAR race is: will he be invited? Will NASCAR CEO Brian France roll out the welcome mat for a Democrat and invite a band like the Dixie Chicks to perform live before the race, pumping up the crowd before Obama takes the stage wearing a custom JH Design leather NASCAR jacket? Brian could even arrange to take the Senator on a few laps in the “Wally’s World” car at 170 mph, with the TV camera locked on his face and beamed onto the JumboTron. Then Wally could pull the car right on the stage giving Barack a high-five as he squeezes out the window and takes off his helmet to 150,000 roaring NASCAR fans. The Democratic nominee could then give a John F. Kennedy-style speech about how it cost “all of you” too much money to fill-up your gas tank to get here today. The Dixie Chicks could then break spontaneously into “Not ready to make nice”, while Dale Earnhardt Jr. gives a thumbs up from inside his car and Barack yells, “Gentlemen – start your engines!!!”
