Bush courts Daytona 500 crowd, tries to hold on to 'NASCAR dads'

By Mike Allen and Liz Clarke
The Washington Post

	PABLO MARTINEZ MONSIVAIS / AP President Bush shakes hands with Matt Kenseth, right, as Bush greets drivers in the pit at the Daytona 500 NASCAR race yesterday in Daytona Beach, Fla.
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DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — President Bush cued the engines of the Daytona 500 yesterday afternoon and then settled in for a dizzying view of NASCAR's biggest race as he courted a rugged crowd the GOP considers its own.

The White House described Bush's overnight trip to Florida as nonpolitical, meaning that taxpayers — not Bush's re-election campaign — will pick up the tab.

But the election-year agenda was clear from the magnificent presidential photo shots and the red, white and blue touring bus the Republican National Committee deployed at the track for a voter-registration drive.

Although NASCAR officials insist their fans have steadily diversified, stock-car races remain a refuge from political correctness, with cigarettes and buckets of fried chicken welcome in the stands. Beer is sold in towering 16-ounce cans known as "tall boys." Bush's motorcade was greeted by several men waving Confederate flags from atop the roofs of their pickups.

Even in this conservative and largely adoring crowd, however, there were signs of trouble for Bush, whose job-approval ratings have dropped to the lowest of his presidency amid questions about the basis for war in Iraq.

Harry Meeks, 55, an owner of health clubs in Orlando, Fla., said he voted for Bush in 2000 but is considering the Democrats for the first time in his life.

"Let's face it, the economy isn't that great, and there was deceit about the war," Meeks said. "He needs to come clean on Iraq and come up with a real program for the economy that benefits people who don't make more than $200,000 a year."

But other fans gave the president a warm reception. "He's like me," said Thomas Hanner, 58, a self-employed contractor from Sarasota, Fla. "His swagger, his confidence — I can relate to his thinking."

Bush's appearance before 180,000 race fans in the grandstands and infield — and TV audience of perhaps 35 million — was the most visible sign so far of the parties' competition for a group of socially conservative but economically struggling white men in the South and Midwest that political consultants have taken to calling "NASCAR dads."
 
Years ago, these voters were known as "Reagan Democrats," and the Republican Party has mostly held on to them over the past two decades.

But some Democratic strategists think that job losses during Bush's term, which have been concentrated among the blue-collar communities that historically have provided most of the fans for stock-car racing, offer an opening to prevent the president from sweeping the South in November.

"Bush needs to protect his flank," said David "Mudcat" Saunders, a consultant in Roanoke, Va., who advised Virginia's Democratic Gov. Mark Warner. "These are people who say grace at the dinner table, but then they talk about all the jobs that we've lost, and how they're going to pay for their health care."

Analysts disagree over how definable a bloc is NASCAR, which claims 75 million fans and the second-largest sports audience after the National Football League. NASCAR distributes statistics showing that 40 percent of its fans are women, that 39 percent make at least $50,000 a year and that 19 percent are from the West and 20 percent from the Northeast.

The White House has aggressively reached out to NASCAR followers. The 2002 champion, Tony Stewart, got a visit to the Oval Office. Last year, champion Matt Kenseth was heralded on the White House South Lawn, where presidential aides lined up stock cars to help attract cameras.

Just last week, White House press secretary Scott McClellan took time in his televised briefing to laud the charitable and disaster-relief efforts of NASCAR drivers.

In the past decade, NASCAR's popularity has exploded, with gleaming superspeedways sprouting in Southern California, Las Vegas, Dallas-Fort Worth and Miami; telegenic drivers like Jeff Gordon and Dale Earnhardt Jr.; and national TV exposure.

Fans are drawn by the sport's drivers, self-made men who kiss their wives in the victory lane. They root for the American-made cars. They cheer the military flybys. They doff their caps for the pre-race prayer.

They are also uncommonly brand-loyal — three times more likely to buy the brands of motor oil, laundry detergent, beer and cereal that sponsor racecars than other brands.

That loyalty is what Bush is courting this election year.

The 2002 champion, Stewart, of Rushville, Ind., admits he doesn't really follow politics but said he has made up his mind. "Bush is my guy, and that's the end of it," said Stewart, 33. "Even in politics, the politicians are smart enough to realize how big of a marketing tool that NASCAR is and the cars and drivers are."

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