Opinion: Barack Obama to sponsor a NASCAR entry?

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Well, one sure way to get ‘NASCAR Dads’ to pay attention to your political campaign is get your name on one of the cars.

The Swamp tipped us to an item that Sports Illustrated is reporting: Barack Obama is on the verge of sponsoring a car at a race in August. The metaphor potential is huge -- everything from leading pole-to-pole to hitting a wall and not finishing.

Obama earlier was flirting with campaigning at a NASCAR event, but this takes it one step better. Though there are pitfalls. The car, BAM 39, reportedly is a Toyota, which likely won’t sit well with the United Auto Workers.

An announcement is expected within a couple of weeks, SI reports, though in keeping with a practiced political observer’s skepticism, believe it when it happens.

(UPDATE: The announcement came sooner than two weeks and SI was wrong. Obama spokesman Bill Burton said Friday evening the campaign won’t be sponsoring a NASCAR entry. ‘The Obama campaign will not be sponsoring a car in the Sprint Cup series,’ Burton said, ‘though we will continue to look for ways to reach out to voters and convey Senator Obama’s message of change.” And he didn’t mean tires.)

-- Scott Martelle