Bush Tends to Re-Election With Fund Raising and a New Embrace of NASCAR

[papau]

http://ap.tbo.com/ap/breaking/MGALPLS5QND.html

Bush Tends to Re-Election With Fund Raising and a New Embrace of NASCAR
By Scott Lindlaw Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON (AP) - It's a case of bad timing for the White House: President Bush is collecting $1 million for his re-election campaign in Pittsburgh, while America's "Steel City" girds for bad news from Bush on tariffs that have buttressed the hometown industry. <snip>

Bush's first order of business was a ceremony (WHERE HE CLAIMED CREDIT FOR CONTINUING A CLINTON ERA LAW)in which he approved legislation maintaining government incentives that he said "have created new momentum for the adoption process in our states." "In just five years, from 1998 to 2002, the states placed more than 230,000 children in adoptive homes, about the same number that had been adopted in the previous 10 years," Bush said in the Roosevelt Room. He was flanked by the Martin family, of Brunswick, Md., seven children in tow - four of them adopted. "We're making some progress here in America." <snip>

After returning, Bush planned a photo session with NASCAR drivers - an event that Bush inaugurated exactly a year ago. It was one sure to resonate with coveted voter blocs, the "NASCAR dads." They are white, working-class men who admire Bush but often can be persuaded to vote Democratic, depending on the issue. NASCAR is particularly popular in the South and Midwest, two regions that generally favored the president in his 2000 election and that he must protect for his re-election.

To further highlight its embrace of NASCAR, the White House was making a top driver, Matt Kenseth, the star of an Internet forum usually reserved for administration officials. The "Ask the White House" feature on the White House Web site previously allowed anyone with an Internet connection to question people like the White House chief of staff and Cabinet officials. On a couple of occasions, the feature has also included sports stars such as NFL Hall of Fame wide receiver Lynn Swann and former baseball star Cal Ripken. <snip>

[Voltaire99]

1. Boosh = man of whoosh!

VVVVVVVVVVVEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEwwwwwwwwwwwwr!


Either that's the sound of NASCAR testing the limits of man and machine...

Or the sound Coors-drinking simpletons make when they're determined to have another war, economic retraction, and Big Brother!

In any case, thanks to the White House for helping me identify which athletes to hate; I do like to keep up on these things.

[shanti]

7. right, another reason to drink lots of beer

and get drunk....and nascar is pretty much a white-dominated sport. i think that is *ush's angle.

[kysrsoze]

12. Ummm, that's not exactly it....

Where else would you find so many uneducated, beer-swigging racists? I love racing, but the whole NASCAR thing is ridiculous.

[Fleshdancer]

2. Can someone PLEASE explain the allure of NASCAR to me?

I don't get it. Cars driving in circles...how is this entertaining? Do they bet on the cars like at horse races? What's the deal?

[frylock]

3. ever been to a race?

It's quite a spectacle. These races typically draw 100,000+ PER WEEK!! Believe it or not, it is rather entertaining. Yes, on the surface, "cars driving in circles" seems silly, but is it any more silly than football, or baseball, or theatre, ballet, opera, etc.? Also, it's not as easy as one might think. These guys are pushing 200MPH on some circuits.

Dean really blew it by not sponsering that truck after Graham dropped out. That guy drove without sponsership in several southern states, and even won a race! Just think of the exposure Dean would have had in places like Richmond, Atlanta, and Homestead/Miami.

[Fleshdancer]

10. I've never been, I'll reserve judgement until I do

I still don't get it, but I can understand the concept of having to experience something to fully understand. Kinda like sushi I guess.

[xxqqqzme]

14. And this is why

we need Iraqi oil? to drill ANWR?

[Fleshdancer]

15. great point. sad, but great. n/t

[54anickel]

4. The allure of speed, danger, driving skill and the possibility of seeing

a major accident! What drives people to chase storms, watch bomb to bomb coverage of the early days of Desert Storm and the latest Iraq fiasco, neary any contact sport?
Part of it all is a morbid sense of entertainment.

[kskiska]

5. I'm with you, GloriaSmith

I now live in the South and couldn't believe the reaction after Dale Earnhart was killed. Gee, was there something wrong with his seat belt? Just whose fault was it? How could he have died? Well, duh, maybe it was because he was driving 200 mph or so.

[bushisanidiot]

6. Go Ahead Bubble-Boy. Preach To The Choir. They were all going to

vote for you anyway.

[Catherine Vincent]

9. No, not all. Remember when Clinton was at one of those races?

A lot of people there wanted to greet him. Some are democratic voters too!

[demdave]

11. Writing off a large block of voters on a preconception leaves you standing

ALONE.

I have seen people in here malign religion, sports, areas of the country and whole age, sex and ethnic groups with the excuse of "They are all going to vote for Bush anyway". It is prejudicial and ignorant. These same people usually can't understand why the "sheeple" don't listen to them and instead blindly follow someone else. I sometimes think they are not following as much as they are being driven away.

[dad]

13. -

Not all NASCAR fans are Repukes. I know plenty of Dem NASCAR people

[Room101]

8. I said DEAN should have done this and I was blasted for it

:mad:

[demgrrrll]

16. My best freinds husband is a Nascar driver as are his friends. They are

also union members and vote a straight democratic ticket every year.
Nascar drivers aren't a monolith.