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Conservatives sponsor Nascar car

Hux

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Hux Newbie

Hux

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Wow. I'm inclined to think this is a little risky (see bolded text)

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Conservatives roll out high-octane strategy to attract middle class Race car branded with party logo meant to appeal to hard-working families

GLORIA GALLOWAY

From Monday's Globe and Mail

June 18, 2007 at 4:59 AM EDT

Gentlemen ... and politicians ... start your engines.

The federal Conservatives, who are awash in cash after several years of successful fundraising, are sponsoring a car on the Canadian NASCAR circuit.

Following the lead of Tim Hortons, Home Hardware and Milwaukee Electric Tool, the white No. 29 car in the Canadian Tire auto-racing series now sports a big blue "C" on its hood and side panels.

Finance Minister Jim Flaherty, Canadian Heritage Minister Bev Oda, Government House Leader Peter Van Loan and Immigration Minister Diane Finley were joined by nearly a dozen Conservative MPs at a racetrack east of Toronto yesterday to watch their party's car do the laps.

"NASCAR is very popular in my riding," said Ms. Finley, who represents Haldimand-Norfolk in southwestern Ontario. This is a way for the Conservatives to tap into that growing following, she explained.

"It's getting harder and harder to reach people through the regular media. Fewer people are watching the network news ... fewer people are reading the newspapers," the Immigration Minister said.

"So we have to find new advertising outlets to reach them, to get our message through. And the people who follow NASCAR are our kind of people. They're hard-working families, they're taxpayers who play by the rules. And those are the people that we're targeting."

Conservative insiders have been saying for several months that the party strategy is to go after the large number of Canadians who consider themselves middle class.

They have defined that demographic as being the people who buy their coffee at Tim Hortons, not Starbucks, and who shop at Canadian Tire.

Conservatives hope to appeal to people who have gained from measures like the Universal Childcare Benefit and the Child Tax Credit, Ms. Finley said.

"All of these things are helping middle-class Canadian families and those are the people who track NASCAR."

The minister won't say how much money the sponsorship of the race car is costing the Conservative Party: "That would be Pepsi telling Coke what its recipe is."

However, the aim, she said, is to dispel a misconception that the Conservatives are after an "elitist, Bay Street crowd. We're not."

Which is all well and good, but David Docherty, a professor of political science at Wilfrid Laurier University in Waterloo, Ont., offers a few caveats.

"What happens if it runs out of gas down the stretch? ... Or it crashes?" Dr. Docherty asked. "This might be one of those things that's too cute by half. It's a great idea and then, 'Oh, what were we thinking?' "

It's probably a better idea than sponsoring the WWE (World Wrestling Entertainment), he said.

But "presumably, when I sit down on my couch with my chewing tobacco and some Mickey's Big Mouths to watch the NASCAR," Dr. Docherty said, "I am doing that in my leisure time and the last thing I want to be reminded of is politics."

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timouse Newbie

timouse

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i thought that this must be a joke. we are living in the age of peak oil and climate change(d)...what the hell are the cons doing sponsoring a Nascar car?

But "presumably, when I sit down on my couch with my chewing tobacco and some Mickey's Big Mouths to watch the NASCAR," Dr. Docherty said, "I am doing that in my leisure time and the last thing I want to be reminded of is politics."

yarr.

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d_rawk Newbie

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That's what I'm thinking too! When someone is hammering on Baird and co. regarding Conservative policies towards the environment, this is going to be a very easy target.

If you listen closely, you can hear Mercer madly scribbling down some one-liners this very moment.

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Hux Newbie

Hux

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There are so many scenarios where a pic could surface of this car being towed or broken-down and smoking - it has the potential to be a live political cartoon!

The environmental stuff didn't even ocurr to me but wow, that is right, those things still run on ledded (sp?) gas don't they?

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AD Newbie

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without race cars, cars for everyone else would be incredibly unsafe and inefficient. i guess the real environmental issue is the people that drive to the track and sit in traffic jams, waiting to see people drive fast?* I dunno, if people like going to the track to watch or race cars, let them be. The world isn't gonna die because of a NASCAR race

also, wondering if this car is competing in the busch series NASCAR race in montreal in a few weeks.

* - adapted from Lewis Black. I made it un-funny.

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AdamH Newbie

AdamH

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It's getting harder and harder to reach people through the regular media. Fewer people are watching the network news ... fewer people are reading the newspapers," the Immigration Minister said.

Patently and unequivocally false:

Readership of newspapers in Canada's Top 10 markets has remained stable over the last 5 years according to NADBank

According to Neilsen the average number of People Viewing Television (PVT), which measures the percentage of weekly viewers of any television, has remained at 23% for the last 5 years.

According to the Television Bureau and an OMNITV survey, the main sources of "News" in Canada is Television...58% vs. 14% for internet. The main source of "National News" is television..69% vs. 8% for internet

Of course this is Bev Oda and I don't know why I'd expect anything else from her.

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