NASCAR cooties?

OPINION:

House Republicans in NASCAR-friendly districts are having fun with this one, which plays to the stereotypes. In the course of a public-health and emergency preparedness trip, Democratic homeland-security committee staffers told their aides to get immunized before a trip down South which included visits to two crowded NASCAR events in Concord, N.C., and Talladega, Ala. The immunizations included Hepatitis A and B, tetanus, diphtheria and influenza. North Carolinians grew offended.

Some cried “redneck rash,” especially over the Hepatitis B inclusion because the virus is rarely transmitted in the United States except through sexual contact or intravenous drug use. A shot is commonly administered for Third World travel.

House Republicans, for their part, declined all the shots, citing House Attending Physician’s Office advice. Then, this week, they pounced. “I have been to numerous NASCAR races, and the folks who attend these events certainly do not pose any health hazard to congressional staffers or anyone else,” thundered Rep. Robin Hayes, North Carolina Republican, to The Washington Times. “Democrats should know that there is no preventive measure yet designed to ward off the blue-collar values and patriotism that NASCAR fans represent,” said Linda Daves, chairman of the North Carolina Republican Party, to McClatchy Newspapers. “If they aren’t careful, they just might catch some of it.”

An enraged House Homeland Security Chairman Bennie Thompson, Mississippi Democrat, fired back, accusing Mr. Hayes of demagoguery. The vaccinations were part of a study on mass-emergency preparedness, and Mr. Hayes “ought to be ashamed,” he said on CNN. As he told this newspaper’s Audrey Hudson: “I am sure you would agree that providing immunizations to personnel involved in public safety is good public health policy, and there is no need to exclude staff from taking the preventative measures that the public health community recommends — regardless of why and where mass gatherings are taking place.”

“NASCAR cooties,” as some are calling this flap, reinforces what each side believes to be true about the other. In this case it underscores Democrats’ allergic reaction to sharing close quarters with a Republican constituency.