First a blimp…now a race car? According to the Project
for Excellence in Journalism, the presidential candidacy of
Ron Paul gets virtually no coverage by the news media. So supporters
of the 10-term Texas Representative have brainstormed an array
of creative tactics to take their candidate's message directly
to voters. Their latest effort may be the most audacious: sponsorship
of a NASCAR race team in the name of the anti-war Republican.
"We know NASCAR fans tend to be more conservative and
more patriotic, and very supportive of the military…so
they're a perfect target for Ron Paul's message of small government,
low taxes, secure borders, and strong national defense,"
says Kathleen Hanover, the spokesperson for Ron Paul Racing,
as the grassroots project is known.
The idea for a Ron Paul NASCAR sponsorship was first floated
on an independent Internet message board devoted to Ron Paul's
campaign. It was discussed casually for months. But the idea
began to pick up steam early this year, inspired by a successful
grassroots effort that launched the first-ever presidential
airship, the Ron Paul Blimp. A core group of race fans took
the NASCAR sponsorship idea and ran with it. Now Ron Paul Racing
has its own Web presence (www.ronpaulracing.com) and support
of a new Political Action Committee, Liberty Racing PAC.
(Article continues below)
The $300,000 Major Associate Sponsorship the group is seeking
includes two cars for the entire 35-race Nationwide Series season.
(The Nationwide Series, formerly known as the Busch Series,
is the second-most-watched motorsports series in the U.S.) "That
will put Ron Paul and his message of Constitutional government
in front of 75 million NASCAR fans for nearly 40 weeks—through
the GOP Convention in September, and up to the election in November,"
says Hanover.
One of the potential drivers is a nine-time winner on the Nationwide
circuit, and is the only driver to have been voted "Most
Popular Driver" three times in the series' 27-year history.
And he's also very popular with TV audiences as a twice-weekly
host of a televised racing program. "Hardcore NASCAR fans
are already starting to guess who it is. He's doing 50 hours
of TV appearances during Speed Week," says Hanover, "But
we can't publicly identify him or his team until we raise the
$100,000 deposit and sign the contract. We're thrilled to have
the chance to work with him and his teammate…especially
because today he may have qualified well enough to eventually
make it into the Daytona 500."
Like Ron Paul, Ron Paul Racing is facing an uphill battle.
The group has less than a week to raise the $100,000 deposit
in time to make the first race of the year at Daytona International
Speedway. "It took longer than we thought to put the sponsorship
package together," says Hanover. "But we've got it
now, and we'll raise the money as fast as we can."
Supporters can donate online at www.ronpaulracing.com.
