Ellen Goodman: Daytona on our dime

[Dudley_DUright]

Well now, that was the most dashing photo op since the president donned his flight jacket and landed on the USS Lincoln to declare mission accomplished.

On Sunday, George W. took public transportation down to Daytona and buzzed the 180,000 fans in the stadium and 35 million viewers on television.

Then, with Air Force One parked within camera range of the track, Bush popped out in his black Daytona 500 jacket, rode an SUV partway around the track, bumped "Massachusetts liberal" Ben Affleck from his role as starter and got the gentlemen to start their engines.

About a hundred laps later, the president was back in the skies, leaving behind a Republican voter registration touring bus labeled "Race to Victory."

more...

http://www.workingforchange.com/article.cfm?itemid=16456

[mac2]

1. He wasted my money...because I wasn't watching...

Nor do I approve. Shouldn't this action be protested by Democrats and Bush foot the bill? It's pretty unethical.

It didn't look too safe either. What did the FAA say about it?Aren't planes keep out of the area of big crowds?

If this was anyone else..just anyone....there would be ....

Did Clinton do it?

[proud patriot]

2. grrrrrrrrrrr

I hate this no matter who's doing it

[zbdent]

3. Kinda puts the $200 haircut story into perspective

And where's "fighter for everyman" George Voinovich, who in the 90s was adamant about not doing the 2 hour drive from Cleveland to Columbus, and had a pilot put his license in jeopardy by violating the "no-fly zone" around Cleveland Hopkins airport while Clinton was in town?

[boobooday]

4. Nasty-Ass-Slimy-Creepy-Arrogant-Republican

That's NASCAR, Bush style.

So he thinks it's funny to fly a 747 and buzz the heads of a huge crowd of Americans. He is the most irresponsible bunghole idiot ever. Did he REV the engine when he went by too? Did he have a pair of fuzzy dice?

http://www.wgoeshome.com

[teryang]

5. A couple of observations

I didn't see it, but my wife informed me that the drivers were peeved about the delay of the start caused by the self aggrandizement of the chimp. The next morning the Speedway announced an apology to its fans for the delay and blamed it on the Secret Service. This is bullshit, it was caused by the Chimps desire to steal the limelight with the drivers for as long as possible and the drivers didn't like it.

Some local high school students stood out on international speedway with placards protesting nitwit and the war.

on edit: Volusia county voted for Gore. It was definitely a campaign visit. He went to Tampa immediately afterward. He's working the I-4 correidor which decides the Florida vote. I can't explain what happened here in 2002, I assume it was electronic vote fraud. John Ellis probably would have beat McBride but not by that margin. The education amendments which passed by a huge margin are the tipoff. JebFRAUD has sabotaged the amendments.