Fraters Libertas

Forgetting The Dead In Election Pitch

For some reason Ellen Goodman decided to write a column on two subjects that she knows little of. Politics and NASCAR. What spurred her interest in these topics was the President's recent visit to the Daytona 500, and the role that "NASCAR Dads" will play in the coming election.

After starting off with a thoroughly humorless effort (what is it with liberal dames who write and their inability to tickle the funny bone?) to compare Bush's Daytona 500 trip with the aircraft carrier landing, she proves that she's quite clueless about what the label NASCAR Dad means:

...by and large, NASCAR Dad has become a shorthand for socially conservative and economically struggling white men.

Gee, do you think that Ellen's New England bias is coming through a bit here? I am not a Dad and not a NASCAR fan. But I do know that to describe NASCAR Dads as "economically struggling" is grossly ignorant. Have you ever checked out the ticket prices to a NASCAR race or the jackets that these guys wear? While they may been struggling in the style department they ain't hurting in the wallet.

Now I'm not saying that all NASCAR Dads are hauling down the big ching, but most are middle to upper-middle class guys who aren't living paycheck to paycheck.

I don't know much about stock car racing, but every time some politician waves the checkered flag at this man, I want to put on the brakes. I think they're forgetting the dad in the NASCAR Dad.

At this point Goodman has established that she doesn't understand what a NASCAR Dad is or know anything about the sport that gives this group their moniker. So naturally she proceeds to tell us how these guys think:

The NASCAR Dad may like risk-taking as a spectator sport, but these days he's the guy buckling the kids in the child seats. In the same vein, he believes in national defense but doesn't want anybody conning his sons and daughters into combat over missing weapons of mass destruction.

As for the home front? The economy, education, the environment? The administration's policies can be summed up in the revised lyrics: Let's stop thinking about tomorrow. But when you become a dad, the future stretches out farther than the next lap.

The analysts may not think of NASCAR Dads as green, but a well-oiled administration that revoked approval of the Kyoto protocols, made a scam of fuel emission standards and barely uttered a post-9/11 peep about renewable energy is offering the next generation a future as dark as the track. As Dan Becker of the Sierra Club says, the White House environmental policy "begins and ends with `Gentleman, start your engines.'"

Yeah, I can just picture a couple of NASCAR Dads getting together for a barbeque and beers:

"So, how's Gordon gonna do down at Talladega next week?"

"I'm not thinking about that right now. What with greenhouse gases warming the planet, and Bush refusing to sign on to Kyoto, it's all I can do just to keep hope alive."

Again I am not a NASCAR Dad and don't pretend to speak for them, but Ellen c'mon, do you really think that these guys are staying awake at night worrying about global warming? How about fuel emission standards? You may find Dan Becker's line about Bush's environmental policy funny (once again proving your utter lack of a sense of humor) but do you honestly believe that NASCAR Dads are going to listen to the Sierra Club?

I'm not suggesting the D in Daytona stands for Democrat. In 1992, Bill Clinton got booed at a NASCAR event. Southern white males voted for Bush over Gore, 70-20. And John Kerry rides a motorcycle, not a stock car.

But this is not your father's NASCAR Dad. A father's role in the family is changing. He presents a more complicated, protective, and caring image than the Republican pitch of tax cuts and orange alerts.

If this voter is going to swing, it better be to the party that offers his kids more than a trip around and around and around the same old track.

Hmmm...Is it just me or is their almost an implied threat in that last line? "..it better be.."

But Ellen does make a good point (finally). NASCAR Dads are, like all fathers, protective of their children. For example they would rather not have their sons and daughters immolated by burning jet fuel in their offices. Or have them jump out of skyscrapers rather than be burnt alive. Or be crushed by tons of concrete and steel as they work to rescue others.

NASCAR Dads do care about their children's future. They want that future to be happy, free, prosperous, and safe from events like 9/11. That's why, by and large, they are going to vote for Bush in November. Gentlemen, pull your levers.