Topless Women, Kid Rock, Bikers, And John McCain

The town of Sturgis, South Dakota will witness, on Monday, the rare fusion of drunken debauchery, public stripteasing, motorcycle rallying, a live performance by Kid Rock, and - last but not least - a veterans-themed speech by presidential candidate John McCain. Seriously.

On Sunday, the McCain campaign announced that the Senator will participate in the Sturgis Rally 2008 at Buffalo Chip in South Dakota, an annual tribute to American veterans. The event is up the Arizona Republican's wheelhouse, attracting thousands of active duty and former servicemen, many who have a natural affinity towards the Senator.

But it is hard not to notice the evocative, non-political sideshows that will literally surround McCain's speech. As the presumptive nominee takes the stage, the "Ringin' Wet & Wild" women's wrestling event will be taking place on the main amphitheater. Two hours before then, the "Miss Buffalo Chip Beauty Pageant - Bikinis on the Beach" will be staged at a different venue. That affair is described by ESPN's Jim Caple as "essentially a topless beauty pageant. And occasionally bottomless, too."

"During a drenching rain Wednesday night, the contest broke up into smaller groups and one woman wound up dancing naked on a bar top. Her boyfriend/husband saw her and angrily dragged her away as she struggled to put her pants back on and muttered something about how, "It's only this one week a year.""

How sweet. Sadly, the pageant also sees its share of domestic abuse, which even the event's organizers admit to Caple is a major problem.

Following McCain's speech, country stars Kellie Pickler and Kid Rock will be taking the very same stage for their own live performances. Then at 12:30 a.m., there will be the semi-finals of the "Miss Buffalo Chip Beauty Pageant," this time featuring Hawaiian Tropic Models.

The cultural crossroads that is the Sturgis Rally could actually be fertile political ground for the Republican presidential nominee. Hosted in a town of 5,500, the event sees upward of half a million bikers over the course of a week. Many of them, the founder of the campground is quoted as saying, have expressed interest in seeing the Senator, whose POW background makes him a fan favorite. How the religious right will react is a whole other bag.

Comments

[lessbs]

09:45 PM on 08/10/2008

"A shooting followed a confrontat­ion between Hell's Angels Motorcycle gang members and members of the Iron Pigs Motorcycle club the morning of Saturday, 8/11 morning in Sturgis. South Dakota investigat­ors said. Iron Pigs is a riding club that often counts law enforcemen­t officers among its membership­, according to the club's website."

Will the MSM go on a tirade about McBush attending this family values event? Is the fix in? Is there any hope left for fair elections in this country?

[unitedstates]

01:57 PM on 08/07/2008

"Topless Women, Kid Rock, Bikers, And John McCain". .. talk about gutter ball politics . both sides have lost their class.

[mark227]

11:18 AM on 08/07/2008

Obama gives a speech in front of Germans and declares himself a "citizan of the world"...M­cCain gives a speech in front of a crowd at a bike rally in the middle of America...­I'll take the citizan of America to run the country over the "citizan of the world".

[amcg50]

04:52 PM on 08/07/2008

I think that it is spelled "citizen" What was your feeling when Regan pronounced himself as a citizen of the world?

Arn't we all...

[IowaKid]

11:29 PM on 08/06/2008

Well I wonder how many more will close last Friday I see where another one closed in Florida. Let me see Bush in office for 8 years and McCain in congress for 26 years and McCain supported Bush's policies 90% of the times. I think this is a far more important issue than bikers and McSame pimping his wife.

[jxmiller]

07:56 PM on 08/06/2008

Sad to see many of the posts and blogs on Huffpost disparage portions of the electorate­, or Cindy McCain's cleavage. I used to come here for news.

We are a country of serious problems and need serious discussion­. That is why I am an Obama contributo­r and supporter.

I also ride a Harley and love strippers and wet t-shirt contests. So, does my girlfriend­. You can have it all!

[CrittersRTasty]

11:21 PM on 08/06/2008

I'm a fan of bikes, strippers AND Cindy's cleavage!
Now I KNOW I'm voting for McCain.
And if any of you folks still dont know why Obama and his supporters are seen as "Elitist", you need look no further than the sneering posts on this page.
Grow up folks, not all voters look and sound like you....(no­w where have I heard that before?)

[morticia]

06:32 PM on 08/06/2008

Cindy what would a woman of your wealth and stature want with the likes of those cheep and degrading
lot?? I just don`t get it. I am not quite as old as you, but I would never be seen flaunting my private stuff,
no matter who requested it.I think you deserve better.

[nicholasclaxton]

03:58 PM on 08/06/2008

BUFFALO CHIP = Dried Buffalo Poop!

Tops it all!

[pjcpa]

03:15 PM on 08/06/2008

This kind of event is mainstream America, so why not attend. You have doctors dressed as weekend bikers and true blue collar "good ole boy's" there for a good time. Seems to me this was a more diverse crowd of Americans than Obamarama played to in Berlin.

[dadw5boys]

03:39 PM on 08/06/2008

Yeah go there for the good old boys but get high from all the pot being smoked.

State Troopers there with Mc Cain and the smell of POT so thick even a DEA Agent could smell it.

NO ARREST!!!!­!!!!!!!!

But Medical Pot still Illegal just let the sick suffer!

[bakunin]

03:59 PM on 08/06/2008

JFK---"Ich bin ein Berliner!" McSame-- "Ich bin ein Biker!"

[Kman2]

03:11 PM on 08/06/2008

Yes, the rugged individual­ism of these biker guys comes out when they ALL dress exactly the same and drive exactly the same bikes. Sturgis reminds me of the 7th grade, but with overweight strippers.

[yngcelt]

08:17 PM on 08/06/2008

Like the individual­ism of the Code Pinkers, the hippies, the protesters who all wear their hair in dreds and wear combat boots and cut off pants and beads.
Yeah, I can see how the liberals are different.

[Kman2]

09:39 PM on 08/06/2008

Hippies? Are you kidding me? You do realize this is 2008 and not 1968, right?

Hmmm..just where the heck did I say liberals were different anyway?

Look at many of the comments i make. I make just as much fun of leftie purists as i do righties. Probably should turn on your brain before commenting here and don't put words in my mouth.

[AfricanWahala]

02:59 PM on 08/06/2008

He was trying to find an excuse to stick around for the "beauty pageant"..­..

[atciii]

02:50 PM on 08/06/2008

Obama's crowds are diverse, McCreepyHa­nds crowds are ????? i dont know what to call it!

[nicholasclaxton]

04:03 PM on 08/06/2008

As stated on Countdown and by others....­That was not a crowd for McCreepy - he's going where there is already a big crowd and wedging himself in because he can't draw them numbers on his own...

[yngcelt]

08:18 PM on 08/06/2008

Yes! Diverse! They all pucker up to kiss his butt in so many different ways.
LOL

[jkel]

02:17 PM on 08/06/2008

He did this to appeal to poor whites, I guess.

Believe me, Huffpost, I'm white, was raised poor, and I can state without a doubt that the one group of Americans who do not love bikers are poor whites. Bikers take over a house in your town: trouble. Bikers come into your local bar: trouble.

All I can say to McCain, if his intent really was to appeal to poor whites by linking himself to bikers: Smooth move.

[lessbs]

02:34 PM on 08/06/2008

Not necessaril­y poor. If you look at the demographi­cs of Harley purchasers­, their average age approaches 50 and their average income is above $100k. My doctor owns and rides a Harley as well as my attorney and my next door neighbor who lives on inherited wealth. Only one has gone to Sturgis, but all belong to groups that go on weekend rides. I'm not a shrink, but you can figure out on your own what drives these guys to want to be part of the "biker" crowd.

[nicholasclaxton]

04:02 PM on 08/06/2008

You all should really do your homework about the crowd demographi­cs at Sturgis, Daytona Bike Week Etc..."Bik­ers" are not simply the images you see portrayed in old movies...

[jkel]

05:00 PM on 08/06/2008

I can see you've never lived around the real thing, nicholascl­axton.

Wait until a couple of the bastards try to knock your teeth out just for fun, or zero in on your daughter while she's on her way home from school - then preach at us about how wonderful bikers are.

[Einstein44]

01:49 PM on 08/06/2008

Can you imagine the flak Obama would get from the Republican­s and the media,if he pulled this stunt ? It would be endless !!!!!

[yngcelt]

08:18 PM on 08/06/2008

Funny thing is, the liberal mainstream media would totally spin it to Obama's favor.

[gracefulboomer]

01:48 PM on 08/06/2008

Didn't this sound like the speech Dennis Hopper made in Waterworld­?
Bikers revving their motors in the background
Fists in the air
The only thing missing was a poster of the Exxon Valdez

[Dr. Sam]

01:10 PM on 08/06/2008

McCain is neither an intellectu­al (fifth from the bottom of the class at Annapolis) nor honest--so intellectu­al honesty for him is a very strange concept indeed! This man lacks integrity, even to the point of suggesting that his wife participat­e in a nude contest. Currently, he goes where he can find a ready-made crowd; Obama is the big buzz who creates a huge crowd just by showing up. McCain is all worked up and seeking identifica­tion with macho crowds such as bikers. Some of these groups have generally been associated with criminal activities such as drug traffickin­g and prostituti­on. However, by such an identifica­tion and by code communicat­ion, McCain wants to translate working class authoritar­ianism into working class votes, with all the racial over-tones implied in the modus operandi of bikers. Unfortunat­ely for McCain (a man of patrician background and privileges­), he is so far not winning the working class votes. But his present antics shows clearly again that he will say and do anything to get elected President of the United States. In doing so, he has damaged his old propagandi­zed brand as a maverick beyond repair.

[Atticusparis]

01:40 PM on 08/06/2008

Right, Dr. Sam, about the working class. But McCain is pullin' in the votes of the smirking class!!