Tonight is the general election, and a chance for Mitt Romney to win the presidency. In order to get there Romney needs to appeal to the “NASCAR Dads.”
He failed.
Romney only verified further my idea that he’s “Republican John Kerry,” at least when it comes to being the least convincing sports fan/most out of touch with everyday America alive.
From Mediate:
During an appearance at the Daytona International Speedway that seems to have been engineered specifically to generate some populist, NASCAR-ish optics Sunday, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, still smarting from his recent pair ‘o Cadillacs gaffe, told an AP reporter that he didn’t follow NASCAR “as closely as some of the most ardent fans. But I have some great friends that are NASCAR team owners.”
Uhm yeah, as do we all Mitt, as do we all. But he wasn’t done. The Colbert Report had a field day with Romney’s “it combines two things I love: driving and sport.” We call them sports Mitt, sports. “Sport” is Ivy League fencing or sailing or polo.
This takes me back to 2004 and John Kerry’s infamous trying-way-too-hard-to-be-an-everyman gaffes.
Like when Kerry looked absolutely ridiculous in hunting fatigues, or talked up how great the Ohio State Buckeyes were during a campaign stop at a Detroit area high school. (You might have heard of the Michigan Wolverines, they play pretty close to Detroit and have this little rivalry thingee going on?)
However, Kerry’s Boston Red Sox “Manny Ortiz” gaffe blows them all away, because Kerry actually wore a BoSox cap and pretended to be a fan of the team. Seriously, how insulated are you when the team wins the World Series, yet you’re so clueless that you combine the two star players into one fictional guy? I hope Manny Ortiz cashed in on his World Series MVP and got a nice, new contract.
Or Kerry in Milwaukee bringing up the home of the Green Bay Packers, “Lambert Field,” almost forgot about that one.
Back to 2012 and that Cadillacs gaffe, Romney addressed a crowd of 1,200 at Ford Field for another stump speech. One that again included an observation about how the trees in Michigan are all the perfect height; and later this gem:
“I drive my mustang and a Chevy pickup truck and Ann drives a couple of Cadillacs. I used to have a Dodge truck, so I used to have all three covered.”
As do we all Mitt, as do we all…If you’re Ludacris: “Cadillac bills, Cadillac grills, check out the oil my Cadillac spills.”
But what I find more humorous is the use of Ford Field, which seats 65,000, for this event. As the crowd was 1,200. Kind of ridiculous to use the home of the Detroit Lions when the home of Cranbrook (“that’s a private school,” Jimmy “B. Rabbit” Smith informed us in 8 Mile) or any decent sized Detroit area high school gym would have been fine.
Paul M. Banks is CEO of The Sports Bank.net, an official Google News site generating millions of unique visitors. He’s also a regular contributor to Chicago Now, Walter Football.com, Yardbarker, and Fox Sports
A Fulbright scholar and MBA, Banks has appeared on live radio all over the world; and he’s a member of the Football Writers Association of America, U.S. Basketball Writers Association, and Society of Professional Journalists. The President of the United States follows him on Twitter (@Paul_M_BanksTSB) You should too.