(CHICAGO, IL – November 10, 2008) Walking home from Grant Park on election night, with an uncharacteristically warm November breeze at my back, I couldn’t help but think how everything blew right with Barack Obama’s campaign and that, if there’s even a bit of a favorable wind on his side, things might change for the better.

The morning’s newspapers – excluding those you couldn’t find at your street corner dispensing machine, the Seven-Eleven or the Shell filling station – were all about the president-elect’s victory speech; the people in attendance including Spike Lee and Oprah Winfrey; the whiff of a new puppy for the White House and, to a greater extent, the past. By the past is meant how African-Americans have longed for this day, not so much about what they might do after it.

Oh, sure. There were the clichés about providing our country’s youth with proof that even the most prejudiced among us can be president. Lovey Smith, the Bears’ coach, surrendered his predictably stoic demeanor and the Rev. Jesse Jackson let tears of joy run down his face. “You don’t know exactly how to act because you’ve never been in that situation,” explained Smith to reporters. “When you have a first like that, it’s just big,” the humbled man said.

At first it seemed strange to me how all of a sudden Obama’s race became the central story of the election results. Obama’s bi-racial ancestry didn’t seem such a factor when inexperience, sordid colleagues and his liberal leanings were getting pounded on. Perhaps it’s because I’m a white man and the McCain/Palin slurs were veiled insults that closeted racists get, but not the rest of us. Or maybe I, like the millions of enraptured voters in blue states, had had enough of being neglected.

Obama’s from-the-bottom-up strategy for turning the economy around and making government a functioning service for the taxpayer, instead of a money pit, was a message that sounded sound to me. As a former CEO of a $250 million company and now an owner of a small manufacturing business, I know “trickle down” occurs only at Flomax moments. You can’t kid a kidder, in other words.

In the past year or two, there has been a smattering of well-intended fresh efforts to allow horse racing fans to participate more in the sport. A few individuals, such as Michael Amo of Thoroughbred Racing Fan Association (Thorofan) and Jeff Platt of Horseplayers Association of North America (HANA), are pioneers in the grass roots movement. Thorofan is attempting to rein members in by offering a mish-mash of meaningless benefits in return for a double-sawbuck. Membership in Platt’s organization, more aimed at the serious bettor, is, ironically, free. The enrollment process isn’t reaping the results either man expected.

Both entities have struggled to organize a membership of consequence. Collectively, the two groups account for fewer than 500 members, which is hardly representative of the 29 million Americans that identify themselves as horse racing fans. The meager results may be caused by the groups’ fuzzy agendas. There is no tangible benefit which stands out among the platitudinous campaign promises expressed by their recruiters. Moreover, it’s likely the audience considers the sport hard of listening.

“It would seem to me that if we can get a critical mass together, a solid voice (in the industry) can be gained,” said Amo, who concedes that attracting members hasn’t been as easy as getting encouragement. “I went to Keeneland, met with the folks there, met with TOBA (Thoroughbred Breeders and Owners Association), and they seem to think the idea is a good one,” he said, failing to identify the idea. “We’re going to continue to talk,” Amo said. Talk, of course, is how the establishment defines progress.

Well, one idea that might move some people toward membership, as well as toward the belief that they can be part of something, has to do with one of the sport’s end-of-the-year traditions. Amo and Platt should call for the National Thoroughbred Racing Association (NTRA) to shift its Eclipse Awards voting rights to fans. The NTRA is one of three entities called upon each fall to cast ballots. The others are the Daily Racing Form (DRF) and the National Turf Writers Association (NTWA). Both the DRF and the NTWA have a legitimate claim to the vote; the NTRA does not.

Long ago, the NTRA became a legislative force instead of a unified marketing arm of the industry. Unlike the fans, whose primary focus is on what’s happening on the racetracks, the NTRA is concerned with what’s happening in the backrooms of Congress and the bowels of the Breeders’ Cup. Recently, NTRA president Alex Waldrop went on record stating that his organization cares about what the fans think. Toward creating a stronger bond with the public, he began asking for feedback and forming his own fan-based advisory team.

I’m not suggesting a frivolous hand-over of the Eclipse Award voting rights, although I see nothing wrong with an Internet election without prejudice to anyone. On the other hand, for the sake of moving slowly (the preferred pace at which the sport operates), voters could be made to qualify for the ballot by holding bona fide membership in one of the organized fan groups. The groups would have to prove that they have the support of their members. The eligibility requirement for any fan-based group to participate in the vote would include proving it had a sizable registered representation that was worthy of casting the public’s opinion.

Granted, bestowing Eclipse Award voting rights to its members is not a priority that groups such as Thorofan or HANA have considered. But if the organizers of these groups are serious about giving their members a voice in the industry, this is one way to begin. At the same time, this simple accommodation - almost a meaningless perk to the NTRA - would enable the sport to prove it’s hip to the “from-the-bottom-up” movement.