It may be trivial, but on the theory that character is an important factor in determining the best president, and that baseball fandom is indicative of character, here’s a round-up of the four candidates who have made news in baseball with excessive flip-flopping and pandering on this very serious subject. I’m expecting a George Will column shortly.
Rudy, the Sox, and the Yankees
Last July, The Providence Journal asked the former mayor this fateful question: If the Devil said you can be President if you become a Red Sox fan, would you do it?
“I’m a Yankee fan,” Giuliani replied then. “I always believe it’s a sign of my being straight with people, about not wanting to fool them, that I was one of the first mayors to be willing to say I was a Yankee fan.”
Of course, what happened next was entirely predictable. Trying to gain an advantage in New Hampshire, the first Republican primary, and in no relation to the rest of this story adjacent to Massachusetts and part of the obnoxiously named “Red Sox Nation”, Giuliani suddenly begins root for the Yankees nemesis. His pitiful excuse: he’s rooting for the American League.
Quite simply: bullshit. Pandering at its most pathetic. Unfortunately, if a pedophile priest, angry New York firefighters attacking his record on 9/11, his own daughter’s endorsement of Barack Obama, his wife (the third one’s) history of killing puppies in order to sell medical supplies, phone calls during televised speeches, his scary team of foreign policy advisers, his liberal positions on social issues such as gay marriage, abortion, and illegal immigration, his apparent total lack of knowledge of foreign policy and islamist terrorism, his scandalous personal history, his disregard for his family, his championing of Bernard Kerik as police commissioner, as a partner in his firm, and as Secretary of Homeland Security, who just plead guilty to corruption charges, and of course this doozy of a quote resurrected from his time as mayor: “Freedom is about authority.”
So, switching from a Yankees fan to a Yankees fan who also also roots for the #1 Enemy of the Yankees – small potatoes in this litany. One of these days, hopefully something will catch up to this “little man in search of a balcony.” (Quote from Jimmy Breslin.)
Hillary, the Yankees and the Cubs
A Chicago native, Hillary had remarked she had been a lifelong Cubs fan before her Senate run. While running for the Senate in New York, she mentioned she had also been a lifelong Yankees fan. Riiiiiight.
Tim Russert in one of the dozens of Democratic debates quizzed her on a number of issues which ducked until:
…Russert threw her a curveball, asking if she would back the Yankees or Chicago Cubs, her childhood home team, if they met in the World Series. So she waffled.
“Well, I would probably have to alternate sides,” she said.
After both teams are eliminated, Hillary says she is relieved she no longer has to “straddle the bleachers.” I could list the many other issues on which Hillary has opportunistically switched positions on. But I’m exhausted from writing Giuliani’s list. Suffice it to say, that the only candidate likely to match Giuliani in the sheer number of scandals and in the blatancy pf opportunistic pandering, it’s probably Hillary. To be fair though, Hillary seems to pander less and “shift” more.
It is interesting to note that a large part of the strength of both Clinton and Giuliani comes from their stubbornness in sticking with unpopular positions in the face of widespread belief that it would drown their candidacies. Clinton on the Iraq war especially, and Giuliani on abortion. After a long period of ostentatiously sticking to their guns, each has since “shifted” their current position while refusing to acknowledge any change in opinion.
Barack Obama and the White Sox
In a boring addition to this list, Barack Obama has remained steadfastly a White Sox fan, even this year with the Sox out of contention and his other hometown team the Cubs in the playoffs. The reason he’s made some news however is because he has called out Hillary on her shifty position.
Richardson, the Yankees, and the Sox
Governor Bill Richardson made news because of the sheer stupidity of his response. He did not look insincere because he said one thing to one audience and another some years later to a different one. His implosion occurred in a single fateful sitting before an audience of one while discussing his favorite baseball team on Meet the Press:
GOV. RICHARDSON: I, my favorite team has always been the Red Sox.
MR. RUSSERT: You’re a Red Sox fan.
GOV. RICHARDSON: I’m a Red Sox fan.
MR. RUSSERT: End of subject.
GOV. RICHARDSON: End of subject.
MR. RUSSERT: You better get rid of this book.
GOV. RICHARDSON: Oh, no! I’m also a Yankee fan. I also like…
MR. RUSSERT: Oh, now, wait a minute!
GOV. RICHARDSON: You can—Tim…
MR. RUSSERT: I guarantee…
GOV. RICHARDSON: No, I know, I got in trouble…
MR. RUSSERT: …if you go—if you go to Yankee Stadium or Fenway, you cannot be both.
…
MR. RUSSERT: Yankee fans and Red Sox fans?
GOV. RICHARDSON: Yes.
MR. RUSSERT: Not a chance.
GOV. RICHARDSON: Well, I bet you I can.
I remember watching it on that Sunday morning. It was truly painful.
Conclusions
Politicians seem to like the Yankees. Probably because they win a lot. They also seem loath to alienate anyone, even over something so trivial. I ran for office a few times (college-wide office). I understand the temptation, and I am sure I sometimes succumbed to it. But I think as often, I stated what I thought, even when it was less than politic. Perhaps, that’s why I lost.
My overall conclusion: if baseball monogamy indicates some positive presidential characteristic, vote Obama.
I looked for other items for the other candidates, but this is all I have found so far. Send me more info, or post in comments if you know of anything.