The Obama for President Toyota?

Recognizing that NASCAR has a huge fan base Barack Obama is considering buying some high speed advertising on the side of a Sprint Cup racecar:

US Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama's campaign officials are in talks to sponsor a stock car in an August 3 race in Pennsylvania, Sports Illustrated reported on its website on Friday.

Should the deal come off with BAM Racing's car No. 49, it would mark the first time a major US presidential candidate has been a primary sponsor on a vehicle in the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR) series.

Ken Schrader would drive the Toyota-powered entry at Pocono in a state thought to be a battleground for US electoral college votes in November's election between Obama and Republican rival John McCain.

The team has raced only once since March 30 in Martinsville for lack of sponsorship money and the car must qualify at Pocono on speed. BAM Racing has only six top-10 showings in 167 starts since 2002.

An announcement of sponsorship is expected on July 23 at Miami with Obama thought to be in attendance.

What is proposed to be a one-race deal, sources told the magazine, could have an option for individual campaign donors to have their name on the side of the race car for as little as 100 dollars.

There are multiple problems with this idea:

• They are probably looking at BAM Racing because they can buy the car for the weekend pretty cheaply. However, there's a reason for that. As the article says BAM hasn't been in many races this season and doesn't have a very good record when they have to qualify on speed. The "Obama for President" Toyota could easily miss the race and create a big P.R. boo-boo for the campaign.
• BAM Racing drives Toyotas. Yes, the Camry is built in America, but Toyota is not an American make. That's not the best image for a guy who wants to be president...of America.
• Ken Schrader is a pretty funny guy and has always struck me as being pretty conservative in his politics (as I suspect most NASCAR drivers are). He's a team player, but I can't imagine that he'd be a very enthusiastic proponent for his sponsor.
• Most importantly, the NASCAR fan base is made up largely of those "bitter America" folks who cling to God and guns and who don't appreciate being condescended to by the likes of Obama. Most of them wouldn't give him a second look even if he sponsored a car in the race. In fact, I would expect to see signs in the stands that might be less than respectful toward the Obamessiah. Don't forget that Obama got trounced in the Pennsylvania primary which occurred not long after his "bitter America" remarks.
• As far as Obama's donors go and their chance to get their name on a racecar, I doubt many of them could spell NASCAR if you gave them all the consonants. Obama's people don't watch auto racing.

Advice to Obama: Don't do it. You'll end up looking as silly as John Kerry in his duck hunting gear.

The question is, can they wave the black flag at a car with Barack Obama's picture on it and not be accused of racism? The 49 will probably never see the white flag because it's usually out of the race by then.