a stunningly insightful look at the "NASCAR dad" psyche...

[ret5hd]

an in-depth look at the mental processes of americas newest voting block.
www.albinoblacksheep.com/audio/nascar.php

on edit:typo

[kiahzero]

1. Hilarious and sick at the same time

I feel horrible for laughing at the ignorance of this guy.

[Alpharetta]

2. the lines are drawn

NASCAR is a bastion of baldfaced corporate-sponsored racism. I wouldn't bother courting the NASCAR vote.

[Beaker]

6. 2% of the electorate...

that's some voting bloc :eyes:

[Name removed]

9. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[ret5hd]

11. i think a lot of 'em do a pretty good job of...

vilifying themselves.

don't blame us if we just happen to point out what they themselves make obvious.

[DonP]

13. We seem to be getting too good at that lately

We have a lot of people on this board that think we can afford to piss off over 80 million gun owners too. Probably some of the same folks but still, you can't afford to ignore them.

IMNSHO At least develop a strategy to neutralize them if you can't get them to swing to our side of the argument.

[LeahMira]

15. All things to all people... are we?

We have a lot of people on this board that think we can afford to piss off over 80 million gun owners too. Probably some of the same folks but still, you can't afford to ignore them.

I think the one thing that people dislike most is someone who says one thing in one place and another in another place. If you stand for some sort of principles, you need to really stand for them. The electorate really does have an innate sort of BS detector.

You aren't going to get all the votes in all the places if you're totally honest, but you certainly aren't going to get them if you lie or waffle around trying to be all things to all people.

[starroute]

20. I think you misplaced your decimal point

If 2% = 25 million, then 100% = 1.25 billion.

That's off by a factor of ten.

The point about the NASCAR dad is not that there aren't 2.5 million of them. It's that they're not a swing group. They're being described as though they were the equivalent of the soccer moms of the 90's -- a demographic segment that was up for grabs and thus worth wooing.

The truth is that the great majority of them are already firmly in Bush's pocket. He's doing what he always does -- appearing before groups he knows will support him. There's no benefit for the Democrats in twisting themselves out of shape to try to peel off what could be at most a tiny number of voters.

[Name removed]

22. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Llewlladdwr]

29. Actually , you're off a bit yourself.

The currect estimated US population (as of 2:57:49 pm PST 2/16/2004) is 292,604,485 (http://www.census.gov/main/www/popclock.html). That only puts him off by a factor of about 5, and still leaves us with 5,852,090 potential voters alienated. Although I do agree with you that most of the folks in this block tend to be unlikely to support a liberal agenda.

[starroute]

32. 2% of the electorate, not the total population

I ballparked the electorate as being about half of the total population, which is where I got a factor of 10.

[randr]

3. CNN interviews at race

yesterday showed that there are as many different political views as anywhere else. Majority of people asked did not respond favorably to *.

[ret5hd]

5. yeah, i realize that, and i have even attended a few races, but...

i think that this is the mentality bush* is trying to appeal to, in the same way that he was trying to court RW fundie racists when he visited Bob Jones University.

[Zero Gravitas]

27. yup

I heard that * got booed at the race (or at least as many boos as cheers)

[Hubert Flottz]

4. My wife, two kids and I all watch NASCAR and we vote ............

Democratic! Every NASCAR fan I know votes democratic! I think Bush is pissing up the wrong stump here! Rusty Wallace Loves Bush so Bush can't be WAF!

[leesa]

17. My 87 year old Dad loves car racing and All-Star Wrestling and is

mighty liberal for his generation. I'll never understand the attraction to racing and wrestling, but I like his political thinking.

[name not needed]

7. democrat ballsucker?

:wtf:

[kclown]

8. Andy Borowitz

http://www.borowitzreport.com/archive_rpt.asp?rec=749

[ret5hd]

10. hahahaha....

<snip>
...sixty-three percent of the soccer moms feel that NASCAR dads are spending “too much time” being courted by presidential candidates and “not enough time” performing such basic household tasks as carpooling, taking out the garbage, and raking leaves.

For their part, eighty-two percent of NASCAR dads surveyed in the poll said they had had “just about enough” of the soccer moms’ complaining.
</snip>

[madrchsod]

12. not another"nascar dad."...

it`s interesting how this political sragedy somehow has any credibily. this assumes that all men who like nascar are flag waving red neck bush loving demorat hating good ole boys. so the millions of race fans across the united states will always vote for a republican.using the theory of nascar dads there isn`t any minorities that watch nascar racing.
maybe we should come up with a f1 dad,irl dad,cart dad,rally car dad. that`s it! the good ole boys won`t have nothing on the democrats!

[MidwestTransplant]

14. I almost spit out my water

when I heard Soul Glow!

[Chovexani]

16. There was a funny quote on the CNN story this weekend

Saturday or Sunday, I forget when exactly, CNN did a story on "NASCAR dads" and they interviewed people at a race. They talked to one guy's wife and asked her who she would be voting for, and she said something like "well I can't vote for the person I want for president cause she's not running this year".

LOL!

[loudnclear]

18. They are not the "newest voting block" You are allowing the media and

the Rethugs to define them. They have always been a voting block...they used to be called "bubbas." They have some real nice folks among them but the majority are true RWingnuts with a touch of old fashioned bigotry inbred. This new hype is supposed to give them a type of elevation in the political arena and get them out to vote for Bush because of this new found respect among the politicos. The truth is, they will suffer as much as anyone else with the re-election of Bush. They are suffering now but will refuse to admit it.

[drdigi420]

19. what do you expect from someone that derives pleasure

from watching a bunch of rednecks drive around in a circle for 500 miles?

critical thinking skills are obviously not a pre-requisite

[Bombero1956]

21. Hey

I derive pleasure from watching cars driving around in circles. There may be a few "rednecks" in racing today but many are from different parts of the country. For instance:

Ricky Craven-Newburg,Maine
Kevin Lepage-Shelburne, VT
Tony Stewart-Columbus, Ind
Jeff Gordon-Vallejo, Calif
Jimmie Johnson,El Cajon, Calif
Greg Biffle-Vancouver, WA
Matt Kenseth-Cambridge,Wisconsin
Steve Park-Islip, NY
Todd,Brett and Geoff Bodine-Chemung, NY
Mike Skinner-Susanville, California.
Kurt Busch-Las Vegas, NV

This painting of Nascar fans as rednecks is a big mistake, we're everywhere and a good percentage are Liberal Democrats.

[drdigi420]

23. What makes you think that those ppl arent rednecks?

Since when is redneck a regional term?

There are lots of rednecks in Ohio and California, as well as Maine and even New York.

If they learn to turn in BOTH directions and start allowing non-american cars, they might become interesting.

(of course, allowing BMW and Mercedes into it would force the US auto makers to build better cars and stop concentrating on marketing and SUVs more than quality, once they started losing so many 'races')

real racing requires drivers to turn in both directions

[Elwood P Dowd]

24. You don't know what you're talking about.

I've been to NASCAR races and met many of the drivers. They are not rednecks. Many of them attended college. Ryan Newman has an engineering degree from Purdue. Most of these guys have pilots licenses. There are several that came from open-wheel ranks. Robbie Gordon, Tony Stewart, John Andretti,and a couple of others have also driven in the Indy 500. Jeff Gordon has tested F1 cars.

They also have events on road courses in Sonoma, Calif. and Watkins Glenn, NY.

Why do you guys constantly want to piss off NASCAR fans with your elitist BS? The total number of men, women, and children that follow NASCAR is about 75 million. Just keep posting this crap. Next thing you know the Bushits will be handing out copies of these posts at races, and even more of them will vote republican.

[drdigi420]

25. i dont like rednecks and

rednecks like nascar

not ALL of nascar participants or fans are rednecks

MOST are, thats just a fact, nothing elitist about looking down on a silly 'sport' that refuses to allow world cars and rarely allows its drivers to race a real race on a rad track

(i admit that it is a great feat to keep an american car running for 500 miles at high speed, kudos to the mechanics)

the fact remains: most nascar fans are redneck bigots that will vote republican because of their bigotry, even when it hurts their own self interest

just like not all republicans are stupid
but most stupid ppl are republicans
not all nascar fans are rednecks
but most rednecks are nascar fans

putting a big #3 on your truck is just like flying a confederate flag, it points you out to the rest of us so we don't leave any important decisions up to you

[_Jumper_]

33. Is this DEMOCRATICunderground?

"but most rednecks are nascar fans"

Link?

"putting a big #3 on your truck is just like flying a confederate flag"

How is it any different than supporting any other sports team? Reply with EVIDENCE, not prejudice.

[Heyo]

37. right on....

That's why Ryan Newman is one of my favorite drivers...he's got that winning edge... just something about that kid makes him so fast every week.

And he's only 24 years old.

Go 12!

Heyo

P.S. I second everything you said. But hey, if lots of republican like it, it must be a racist, biggoted war mongering sport and so is everyone who likes it.... (what was that about tolerance and acceptance again?!.. sorry.. got muffled by the roar of the engines)

[Speed8098]

28. I'm sick of this sh*t

Read my archives, I'm a Democrat through and through. I live in NY, I AM NOT A REDNECK and I love NASCAR.

I think you people that lump all fans of a certain sport into one category are as stupid as the republicans you are fighting.

Tolearance my ass. Any one of you that degrade me or anyone else because we choose Nascar as our sport, should be ashamed of yourselves.

"critical thinking skills are obviously not a pre-requisite"

Please tell me, what qualifies you to make a statement like that?

You Nascar bashers are no better than racists.

If I have to explain the correlation, you are too stupid to understand.

[drdigi420]

30. you dont have to explain it

because it isnt true

the fact remains: MOST nascar fans are rednecks

just like MOST country music fans are rednecks

there are always exceptions

of course, living in NY does not keep you from being a redneck

[Speed8098]

31. "you don't have to explain it"

So condemning and entire group of people because of the actions of a few, isn't bigotry?

the fact remains: MOST nascar fans are rednecks

Please provide the link to the study that backs up your statement.

just like MOST country music fans are rednecks

Where do you get this stuff?

You are talking about MILLIONS of people, and you don't think that smacks of racism?

The author of this thread links to some stupid white man making stupid statements and you have the nerve to insinuate that ALL fans of this sport have the same mindset.

That, my friend, is ridiculous.

Do you feel the same way about football fans?
I can tell you, there are plenty of places which you would consider "redneck" territory, and football is the number one sport.

What about hockey? Are all of their fans rednecks too?

Open up your mind a little, Nascar is a hell of a lot more than cars going around in a circle. It takes strategy, team work, and endurance to come out week after week and make these cars do what they do. Do you think any idiot can set up a race car to safely shoot around a 2 1/2 mile track at 200 miles an hour?
Do you think you could race in traffic the way these guys do?

Don't judge people you don't know, it makes you look ignorant, and that is a general statement. It goes for everything, not just Nascar.

[Alpharetta]

34. I'm not saying NASCAR is racist. I am sure it's just a coincidence

there's no black drivers other than an occasional token appearance

there are so few black mechanics

NASCAR is a corporate product marketed to white America. That might not be racist, but racists sure love it.

===

P.S.

And NASCAR might not be Republican either, but the NASCAR telecasts have been glaringly pro-bush and pro-invasion of Iraq

NASCAR drivers like Michael Waltrip get plenty of air time to say God Bless President Bush

So NASCAR might not be Republican, but Republicans love it

[Speed8098]

35. I haven't seen it

I'm a fan from the days of dirt tracks. I watch every race I can, and I haven't heard anyone that is Pro * or pro war. If you can cite instances where this has happened, I'd sure like to see it.

Otherwise cut the shit and leave the propaganda to the right wingers

[Alpharetta]

38. You missed it.

Sorry. I don't have the tapes. You must have missed it when Waltrip did his "God Bless President Bush. He is doing such a good job." speech after he got a top 10 finish during a race last summer. What was weird is that FOX went out of their way to get him on the air with that, because usually they only go after the top 5 drivers.

[Alpharetta]

39. Here's a reference to it.

Edited for a better link:

http://209.157.64.200/focus/f-news/855382/posts

"Michael Waltrip drives through the infield grass to praise President Bush"

He took 3rd and made sure he got the microphone after by doing doughnuts on the infield. 3rd place doesn't usually do doughnuts.

[Alpharetta]

40. so did I cut the xxxx and leave the propaganda to the rightwingers

at NASCAR?

[Heyo]

42. Okay... wrong!

Since when do they interview only the top 5 drivers?

You think they interviewed Waltrip cause he'd say good things about the president?

They interview anyone and everyone, and the drivers are free to say whatever they want.

Did you see that HUGE crash he was invloved in? Did you think just maybe that might be why they interviewd him?

I don't even know where to start with that one.. there are so many things wrong that that post I don't even want to get started.

Heyo

[ellie]

26. I went to a Daytona 500

party yesterday, and it seemed to be pretty evenly split between Democrats and Republicans. I haven't been around Republicans in a long, long time. My husband and I promised each other we would not get in argument or political discussion with anyone (we knew everyone there). This lasted until the end of the day when a union carpenter said that Bush did the best he could with the intelligence he received regarding Iraq. It wasn't his fault. When I said that the administration had plans to invade Iraq from day one, he said, "That is just one guy saying it. We don't know it's true. Besides, Saddam was a horrible man." I excused myself and went to watch t.v. I was going to talk about PNAC, etc. but why bother? The guy that O'Neil was lying and Bush was misled! I can't hold my temper and talk about it so I choose not to talk about it at all.

[Kathy in Cambridge]

36. My liberal brother-in-law races dragsters, loves NASCAR

all this anti-NASCAR stuff is bogus.

[Moderator]

41. Locking

This has become a flamefest with minimal debate and numerous violations of the basic DU rule

2. Treat people with respect. Don't be rude or bigoted. Discuss the message, not the messenger.
http://www.democraticunderground.com/forums/rules.html