Today we continue our series on the new Republican freshmen in Congress. And we look at one who has generated a lot of media coverage: Tim Scott:

http://www.votetimscott.com/about/

Much has been made about Scott becoming the first African-American elected to Congress from South Carolina since Reconstruction. That certainly deserves attention. But so does his business background:

“Tim is the owner of Tim Scott Allstate and has been awarded SC Agency Owner of the Year. He served as Co-Chairman of the Financial Services Committee of the Allstate National Advisory Board from 2004-2008. He is also a partner of Pathway Real Estate Group, LLC.”

You think Tim might have a different perspective on nationalized health care than President Obama since he’s had to pay for the health care coverage of his employees? We need more people like Tim Scott in Congress.

In the next few days our blog will be focused on the new Republican members of Congress:

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1110/44767.html

One thing that many of these members have in common is that they come from a business background. When Obama and Biden were elected in 2008, they collectively offered zero years of experience in the business world. I believe that’s part of why we are struggling to find answers to our economy now in Washington. How can we expect political leaders to understand the business world when they’ve never worked in it?

Fortunately, many of the new Republican members have. And we’ll focus on them in the new few days.

No other sport can offer the photo finish that NASCAR is headed to this weekend in Miami:

http://www.foxnews.com/sports/2010/11/16/cup-odd-couple-johnson-homestead/

Going into this last race, Denny Hamlin and Jimmie Johnson are neck and neck. With Johnson slightly behind, he’ll have to make a move:

“This year, there can be no question about Johnson’s goal. With Denny Hamlin leading him by 15 points in the Chase standings, Johnson must assume that he will need a win to claim title No. 5. He could win the championship without a victory if Hamlin and third-place Kevin Harvick stumble badly, but the 48 team can’t depend on those possibilities. So, for the first time, Johnson enters Homestead not with a point lead to protect but with a gap to dissolve. And he’ll be shooting to become only the third driver since 1975 to overcome a deficit in the season’s last race to win the championship.”

That’s what makes sports so exciting: a real close race at the end. And that’s exactly what NASCAR offers.

Is there a more exciting sport than NASCAR? Not if you look at how close the race to finish will be to crown a NASCAR champion this year:

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/11/14/SP781GC37S.DTL#ixzz15N3RnrUu

Denny Hamlin led for most of this past weekend’s race in Arizona. But fuel strategy forced him to scramble just to finish in the top 12. And that let Jimmie Johnson cut into his lead for the overall Sprint Cup. Only a few points separate the two racers heading into the final race in Miami:

“‘We have one heck of a points race going to Miami, and I’m pumped,’ Johnson said. ‘I am so happy to put pressure on the No. 11 team. We’re ready to race for this thing. I hope the pressure of us being on his heels really works on his mind throughout the course of the week. One race, winner take all, and it’s going to be a hell of a show.’”

Yes it is. This is why NASCAR is the greatest sport in the world: a years worth of great races comes down to one final contest to decide a champion. I can’t wait!

Here is something else that I love about NASCAR: it has a great and exciting system for crowning a champion:

http://msn.foxsports.com/nascar/story/NASCAR-gets-happy-ending-for-Chase-110810

As college football season prepares to enter its silly season with the bizarre BCS system it uses to pick a winner, NASCAR offers a real playoff format for finding out who is the best. It was implemented a few years ago when questions were raised about how the NASCAR overall champion was crowned:

“NASCAR officials responded with the Chase for the Sprint Cup. The idea was to pit the top 10 drivers in points at the end of 26 races against each other while racing within the field of 43 cars over the final 10 races. The format was met with mixed reactions and set off a firestorm of discontent within the sport’s longtime, Southern fan base.”

In other words, NASCAR has created a system that builds excitement toward the end of the year and produces a champion who really is the best driver. That’s a very American way of doing business. And that’s another reason why so many people love NASCAR!

Here is one of the biggest reasons why I love NASCAR–it’s run like a business:

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/sports_blog/2010/11/nascar-jimmie-johnson-jeff-gordon-chase-sprint-cup.html

This past weekend, something extraordinary happened at Texas Motor Speedway. Jimmie Johnson, fighting for yet another Sprint Cup, changed his crew. Even more surprising, he’s announced that he’s going to continue with the new crew for the rest of the year.

Here is how Johnson explained the decision: “You watch pro sports and if people aren’t getting the job done you’ve got to pull them out and put someone else in. I really do care for these guys with the bottom of my heart. They’re my guys. But, man, we have to perform.”

This is such a great example for all of us: business is about performance. And sports should be, too. We could all learn from Jimmie Johnson. I just wish Jerry Jones ran his football team with this much decisiveness.

This past week weekend, I joined 200,000 of my closest friends for the NASCAR race at Texas Motor Speedway. This upcoming week, our blog is going to talk about why NASCAR is the great American sport.

Is there any other sport in America than can attract hundreds of thousands of people to one event? To put it into comparison, one of the biggest games of the college football season was this past weekend between #3 TCU and #5 Utah. The game was played in Salt Lake City in the stadium that housed the opening ceremony of the 2002 Winter Olympics. The stadium was filled to capacity. How many people were there? About 46,000. There were four times that many at Texas Motor Speedway the same weekend.

Check out our blog this week as we talk about why NASCAR is America’s real pastime.

Perhaps no elected official had a bigger election night than Rick Perry. Why? He knew exactly what the issue in the race was all about:

http://www.star-telegram.com/2010/11/04/2604133/perry-denies-presidential-run.html

Perry focused on Washington, not Austin. And he accurately reflected the fears of many Texans about the growing size of the federal government. Could this have been a template for a presidential run? And what about Perry’s new book about the perils of DC? As the article cited above notes:

“Interviewed by Meredith Viera, co-host of NBC’s Today Show, the 60-year-old Republican governor dismissed Viera’s suggestions that the release of his book his might be aimed at stoking national attention toward a run as president. Viera pointed out that Barack Obama and George W. Bush both published books at the outset of their presidential campaigns.”

Here’s a question: do people not interested in national office go on the Today Show the day after an election? Only time will tell what Perry wants to do. But it sure seems that Perry has a message and a formula that might work nationwide.

So the election is over and the results are in. Now, what does it all mean? This article is a good place to start when trying to look for trends or meaning in the results:

http://nationaljournal.com/democrats-brace-for-angry-wave-20101102

As the article notes, the big loser was Washington. People didn’t necessarily vote for Republicans, they voted against Washington. According to recent polling:

” * More than 70 percent of Americans believe the country is on the wrong track.

* Almost as many believe the nation faces a “leadership crisis.”

* Three quarters of voters disapprove of Congress, a near record low.

* Nearly 6 out of every 10 voters are more willing to take a chance this year on a candidate with little political experience.

* More than a quarter of voters are willing to back a candidate whose views “seem extreme.”

* Surveys consistently show Americans hold the Republican Party in lower esteem than the Democratic Party, even as the GOP stormed to victories.”

That last polling figure is striking. Last night people didn’t give Republicans a mandate, they gave them a second chance. Now the question is: what will Republicans do with it?

Tomorrow is Election Day. And so today my message to all of you is simple: go vote.

Recent history suggests that not quite half of all registered voters will show up because it’s a mid-term election (meaning it’s not a presidential election). That’s a shame. The issues facing our country are too challenging and the consequences too great to have too few involved.

For more information on how to vote and where to vote, go to this website: https://team1.sos.state.tx.us/voterws/viw/faces/Introduction.jsp

Remember: it’s your vote, it’s your voice.