Sometimes I wish to live under a rock

Hearing that Daytona 500 hosted the flying wonder monkey to kick off the race is one of those times. This can't be ignored; NASCAR's huge. Even if Bush didn't talk politics, his appearence at NASCAR and the positive press he'll receive from it is something that can't be ignored. 200,000 people were live spectators, and D500 carried a television audience of 40 million. I hear that Bush got a few minutes in the broadcast booth too, to talk racing and such, and that's campaign air time you just can't buy through normal channels.

It's kind of scary when you think about it. How much of a role will sports play in this years election? Bush made his appearence to solidify a base amongest a new demographic called "NASCAR dads," but they probably would have voted for him anyway. (I believe) NASCARs president was quoted as boasting about Daytona and Florida being "George Bush Country." In essence, a large corporation just made a sizable donation to Dubya's campaign, and this corporation (to the best of my knowledge) doesn't even have a political action committee setup. PAC-less NASCAR was simply able to hand an audience of 40 million people to Bush.

Should sports leagues be able to make these types of donations, which they are able to accomplish outside of the normal system, wherein a corporation has to organize a PAC for their political ambitions? (I believe they have to do this, but feel free to correct me if I am wrong, that's what comments are for.) How much of a role will sports play in this years election if they are now willing to politicize themselves? Shouldn't sports leagues be subject to the same election laws that special interest groups face?