When Doug is still running the 10k, and Carrie drives by him in their car trying to make him stop, there is a "Clinton/Gore" sticker on the front bumper, referring to the administration of President Bill Clinton and Vice President Al Gore. This episode aired in April of 2000, when Gore was running in the Democratic primary against Senator Bill Bradley of New Jersey and political activist Lyndon LaRouche. Gore would handily win the party's nomination, following Bradley's withdrawal from the race more than a month before this episode aired. After Gore eventually became the party's nominee, he would go on to face Republican George W. Bush in one of the most historic and controversial elections in modern American history.