They are worlds apart: the brash, gun-loving, God-fearing, Southern fans of Nascar racing, and the button-downed, suit-wearing political elite in Washington.

But the loathing of the Nascar crowd for the inhabitants of Capitol Hill has reached new heights after the decision by Washington political aides to get inoculated before attending a race this weekend.

To compound the error, the aides in question are Democrats, a party that has been so keen to regain the votes of white Southern males that it has even given them their own demographic term: “Nascar Dads”. The decision to get immunisations, against hepatitis, tetanus and diphtheria, is as much a political blunder as a cultural clash.

The trip was part of the House Homeland Security Committee’s investigation into public health preparedness at mass gatherings. Nascar races attract crowds of up to 300,000 predominately working-class fans.

The Democrat chairman of the committee instructed the aides to get the immunisations and the Republicans pounced, claiming Democrats were treating Nascar supporters like Third World inhabitants. “To suggest vaccines are needed to attend Nascar races is insulting to millions of hard-working Americans,”said Tim Walberg, a Republican congressman.

Linda Daves, chairwoman of the North Carolina Republican Party, said: “Democrats should know there is no preventative measure to ward off blue-collar values. If they aren’t careful, they might just catch some of it.” Nascar’s largely Southern fans live in a part of America where antipathy for Washington, the Union capital during the Civil War, runs deep. The National Republican Congressional Committee decried the insult to “red-blooded, patriotic Americans”.

Patrick McHenry, a North Carolina Republican, said: “If anything, it’s the Nascar fans who should get immunised against Washington officials.”

High-speed thrills

$2 billion annual merchandising sales for Nascar

1,500 races at 100 tracks annually

210mph top speed of cars

Source: Nascar, emagazine.com

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