Eric, the Viking Pundit links to a LA Times article about a liberal venturing out in search of the ever-elusive "NASCAR dad".

The writer, Jack Burditt says:

Some of my real liberal friends talk about NASCAR as the personification of evil. I take a more inquisitive approach to politics. That's why last weekend I headed to Fontana, which I recently discovered is in California, to attend NASCAR's Sony HD 500.

At first, Burditt finds a couple of guys who don't speak English and some scantily-clad ladies. Hmmm, I think, is this going to be an article about how NASCAR is far more diverse than just a bunch of good 'ole boys (never meaning no harm)? Well, not exactly.

With the help of the aforementioned scantily-clad ladies, Burditt hooks up with some "real" NASCAR dads. Lo and behold, he finds that, after Hurricane Katrina, they don't like Bush either!:

Another NASCAR dad, wearing an "I Fear No Beer" T-shirt, told me he enjoys the new respect for NASCAR fans. He said they used to be regarded as Confederate flag-waving yahoos who only went for the crashes. In fact, I think that used to be NASCAR's motto. Anyway, I found out he was a big Bush supporter but that he too was sorely disappointed with the president's hurricane response. Two men don't make a Gallup poll, but I found this interesting.

Now, correct me if I'm wrong, but I think that the point here is that NASCAR fans are Confederate flag-waving yahoos, but that even Confederate flag-waving yahoos hate Bush now, sample of two be damned.

I hate to be a naysayer, but are you telling me that at a NASCAR race, this reporter couldn't find a single person who approved of the President's performance? No one there said anything about the piss poor job of New Orleans' Democrat-led government? No one maybe mentioned something about how the idiots that decided to "ride this one out" should probably get a bill for their rescue? Not a single Confederate flag-waving yahoo bitched about their taxes going to bail people out who made the conscious decision to live in an area particularly susceptible to hurricanes? I listen to a lot of people, and I've certainly heard those sentiments expressed and if this reporter didn't it was only because he had his ears covered.

I've seen this approach before. Back before the election, the LA Times sent a reporter out to Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin. Then, the reporter couldn't find a single western Wisconsinite who supported our efforts in Iraq.

Writing about media bias gets old pretty quick. But, I don't think this is quite media bias. It's something else entirely. In stories like this the author finds these people from different, traditionally conservative cultures (hunters, NASCAR fans) and tries to humanize them for his urban, liberal audience. What I find so incredibly offensive is the way they try to do this. These writers try to humanize conservatives by taking away their conservative views. They can only relate to conservative NASCAR dads if those dads express displeasure with the President. A Wisconsin hunter is only not scary and worth quoting if he echoes the author's view on the war in Iraq.

As a conservative, I know full well that whenever you express a liberal or libertarian view, they'll be at least three lefties telling you that you're not really a conservative and that you should give the Democratic Party a spin. It's like it's so drilled into these peoples' heads that conservatives are evil that if they find themselves having any sort of political or personal agreement with a conservative they need to conclude that that person can't possibly be a conservative. And so NASCAR dads are neutered and Wisconsin stereotypes are sanitized.

I don't know about the rest of you, but I have friends and family all across the political spectrum (well, except commies, I don't know no stinkin' commies). We don't relate to each other just about politics. There's more to life than politics (gasp!). But, at the same time, I don't pretend that my liberal friends are really conservatives in disguise. To deny them their beliefs seems like the ultimate lack of respect. And, if nothing else, this LA Times article is just another piece of evidence of how some in the liberal elite have nothing but contempt for the conservative masses.