Texas Thumpin'
Leave it to George Dubya to drop a good ole' boyism that perfectly describes not only the outcome of last Tuesday's election, but also Tony Stewart's Dickies 500 victory.
Yes, the Donkey rode high in the 2006 national election, mule-kicking a number of Republican incumbents to the curb. Most importantly to Nascar fans, U.S. Senators were elected in states that hold 17 races on the Nextel Cup schedule (CA, MI, VA, PA, DE, FL, NY). Nascar Dad and his ilk might find it more comfortable to stick to races in Arizona, Texas, Tennessee, Indiana, and Nevada, where Republicans took the checkers in the Senate elections. He might want to leave his wife behind for the Bristol dates, as Harold Ford is going to have a lot of time on his hands for procreatin' with the white women.
Happy as all of us at Turning-Left are for the Democrats, we'd like to remind them that winning a midterm election, however much of as asskicking it might be, mustn't distract from the goal of regaining the White House in '08. Kevin Harvick's current situation reads like a cautionary tale for the Dems. His great success in the Busch series obviously has him on an emotional high but most certainly has distracted him from performing at his highest level. After posting Top 5's in 42% of the pre-Chase races, his placed Top 5 in only 25% of the Chase races. While his Top 10 performance has held (54-50%) he's also finished worse than 30th in 25% of Chase races. Basically Harvick's run himself from possible Championship favorite to Chase has-been for continued success in a second tier racing series. I really don't give a damn that his car was undefeated until today's race at Phoenix, nor that he's trying to break a record for single season Busch Series wins. How does all this fuzzy math relate to the Dems chances for the Oval in '08? Picture the U.S. Congress running well their first year in office, passing legislation that matters to the race fans (i.e. voters), and figuring out this Iraq deal. The approval numbers open up and instead of gearing governmental operations to winning the Oval, they try to run up the score with a few timely "oversight investigations" and the introduction of a bill on some issue (Medicare?) that may as well be saved for the next Congress. Slowly but surely their handle on the electorate starts to go and the next thing you know they're looking out their right side window, trying to straighten out and not hit the damn wall. Hopefully they'll realize that the post-election hangover is a helluva a lot more fun when you win the big one.
As for the thumpin' that occurred in the Dickies 500, well, that is what it was. Stewart was a man among boys. Actually, my meditation on the whole Nextel circuit, and perhaps racing in general, is that every single driver, crew member, and owner are nothing more than a bunch of overgrown boys. Jeff Gordon is marrying another model. The Riggs crew upends not only Harvick, but his wife. Ray Evernham decides to devote his time to crushing on a young redhead instead of keeping his Nextel team in Chase contention. Even Brian France is getting into the act, mistaking a parking lot for the Bristol Bullring. Meanwhile Michael Waltrip, one of the sport's most polished drivers from a public speaking perspective, is making bizarre, unintelligible comments on Inside Nextel Cup. Actual quote - "I think it's interesting Tony Stewart climbed the fence and Doogie Houser came out of the closet the same week."
Maybe, hell, most likely this phenomena is nothing new, but I never really realized its depths until now. The most grown up people on the entire Dickies telecast were the kids in the ad for the Ford Rouge Factory Tour. Wandering though a living monument to Detroit's past economic relevance, even preeminence, does sound fucking A-Awesome. It does not seem to be the type of thing that would cause 10 year olds to exclaim, "it's like Disney World!" Talk about pragmatism. Talk about disingenuous. Them boys were looking to get paid and nothing more. Now that's grown up.
Yes, the Donkey rode high in the 2006 national election, mule-kicking a number of Republican incumbents to the curb. Most importantly to Nascar fans, U.S. Senators were elected in states that hold 17 races on the Nextel Cup schedule (CA, MI, VA, PA, DE, FL, NY). Nascar Dad and his ilk might find it more comfortable to stick to races in Arizona, Texas, Tennessee, Indiana, and Nevada, where Republicans took the checkers in the Senate elections. He might want to leave his wife behind for the Bristol dates, as Harold Ford is going to have a lot of time on his hands for procreatin' with the white women.
Happy as all of us at Turning-Left are for the Democrats, we'd like to remind them that winning a midterm election, however much of as asskicking it might be, mustn't distract from the goal of regaining the White House in '08. Kevin Harvick's current situation reads like a cautionary tale for the Dems. His great success in the Busch series obviously has him on an emotional high but most certainly has distracted him from performing at his highest level. After posting Top 5's in 42% of the pre-Chase races, his placed Top 5 in only 25% of the Chase races. While his Top 10 performance has held (54-50%) he's also finished worse than 30th in 25% of Chase races. Basically Harvick's run himself from possible Championship favorite to Chase has-been for continued success in a second tier racing series. I really don't give a damn that his car was undefeated until today's race at Phoenix, nor that he's trying to break a record for single season Busch Series wins. How does all this fuzzy math relate to the Dems chances for the Oval in '08? Picture the U.S. Congress running well their first year in office, passing legislation that matters to the race fans (i.e. voters), and figuring out this Iraq deal. The approval numbers open up and instead of gearing governmental operations to winning the Oval, they try to run up the score with a few timely "oversight investigations" and the introduction of a bill on some issue (Medicare?) that may as well be saved for the next Congress. Slowly but surely their handle on the electorate starts to go and the next thing you know they're looking out their right side window, trying to straighten out and not hit the damn wall. Hopefully they'll realize that the post-election hangover is a helluva a lot more fun when you win the big one.
As for the thumpin' that occurred in the Dickies 500, well, that is what it was. Stewart was a man among boys. Actually, my meditation on the whole Nextel circuit, and perhaps racing in general, is that every single driver, crew member, and owner are nothing more than a bunch of overgrown boys. Jeff Gordon is marrying another model. The Riggs crew upends not only Harvick, but his wife. Ray Evernham decides to devote his time to crushing on a young redhead instead of keeping his Nextel team in Chase contention. Even Brian France is getting into the act, mistaking a parking lot for the Bristol Bullring. Meanwhile Michael Waltrip, one of the sport's most polished drivers from a public speaking perspective, is making bizarre, unintelligible comments on Inside Nextel Cup. Actual quote - "I think it's interesting Tony Stewart climbed the fence and Doogie Houser came out of the closet the same week."
Maybe, hell, most likely this phenomena is nothing new, but I never really realized its depths until now. The most grown up people on the entire Dickies telecast were the kids in the ad for the Ford Rouge Factory Tour. Wandering though a living monument to Detroit's past economic relevance, even preeminence, does sound fucking A-Awesome. It does not seem to be the type of thing that would cause 10 year olds to exclaim, "it's like Disney World!" Talk about pragmatism. Talk about disingenuous. Them boys were looking to get paid and nothing more. Now that's grown up.
Labels: Crocker-fucking, Democrats, Ford, Harvick, Texas, Waltrip
posted by S.P.H. at 1:09 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home