7/08/2008
End of a tradition?
Campaigns and Elections magazine writes about an apparently new policy at Daytona International Speedway discouraging politicking at the track. This seems counter to a long-standing tradition at the race formerly known as the Firecracker 400. (Via Q: Palm Beach Post.)
As my column pointed out, this is more than a tradition, it's a curse:
+ DIS says there's no politics ban at the track.
As my column pointed out, this is more than a tradition, it's a curse:
Last year, Rudy Giuliani was an honorary race official at the race, then called the Pepsi 400. Giuliani went on to lose the Florida Republican presidential primary decisively enough to drop out of the race.Photo: Sen. George Smathers, Miss Firecracker and Bill France, 1962 Firecracker 400. Fla. Photographic Collection
This followed a pattern -- one might say a curse -- of honorary race celebrities seeing big drops in their popularity afterward.
The 2006 grand marshal? Vice President Dick Cheney.
The 2005 start-your-engines announcer: fired Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld.
The 2004 grand marshal was nonpolitical -- Byron Leftwich who was quarterback of the Jacksonville Jaguars and now is quarterback for, well, nobody.
The most dramatic drop in popularity? That would be either President Bush, grand marshal in 2000, or Britney Spears, grand marshal in 2001. It depends on which poll you're reading.
+ DIS says there's no politics ban at the track.
Labels: World's Most Famous Beach
