Okay, so maybe that's a bit harsh. But Giuliani today announced that he is rooting for the Red Sox in the World Series this year. Are you f$*!king kidding me!? Just because NH is full of Sox fans? I think the Yankees are Evil in a preternatural sense, but to be a Yankees fan (as Giuliani is) then support the Red Sox is the worst sort of pander and flip-flop of all. FYI, I am a Dodgers fan rooting for the Colorado Rockies in the World Series, but that's okay. They're in my division, but are not our archenemies. In the 2002 series, I dutifully cheered for Anaheim over SF Giants (our legitimate archenemies) with no problem. As the LA Times proclaimed, "Dodgers Fans Root for Angels? Unbelievable. But Dodgers fans Cheering for Giants? UNTHINKABLE."
It's also just politically stupid for a Republican. The Rockies have a thing about being "Christians." I'm okay with them for other reasons.
Tuesday, October 23, 2007
The Ultimate Pander and the Collapse of Western Civilization
Posted by The Law Talking Guy at 3:31 PM
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What's more, the New York Republicans screamed "carpet bagger" at Hilary for moving to New York. When she put on a Yankee's cap, everyone said she was pandering since they all knew she'd grown up in the suburbs of Chicago and so was probably a Cubs fan.
This is the biggest case of pandering since McCain's heralded detour of the Straight Talk Express into Bull Shit Town (i.e. the commencement speech at Bob Jones "University").
It's hard for me to overestimate how far Giuliani has sunk in my eyes with this cheap-ass pandering. If a politician can't even be true to his sports team, which is free, what expectation do we have that he will be loyal in terms of policy to his promises?
As one of those people who do not read the sports page, my initial reaction was: who cares?
Since Giuliani's home team is not playing in the World Series this year, I just assumed that Giuliani would do what most people do: find some reason or other to pick a side to cheer for.
Now I realize that the Yankees and the Red Sox are rivals, so during the regular season I would expect Giuliani to cheer against the Red Sox. But now that the Yankees are out of the running, it does not seem disloyal to me for a Yankees fan to cheer for the team which is closest to home and in the same league. I don't mind supporting the Pac-10 team in the Rose Bowl, even if it *is* Stanford or USC. I just won't cheer particularly loudly, that's all.
What puzzles me is this: if you guys are right and the rivalry is so huge that supporting the Red Sox is an obviously ridiculous thing for a Yankees fan to do... if anyone who cares would find it laughable... then why do it? Who exactly is he pandering to?
I can only assume that either Giuliani's campaign managers are wildly stupid, or you guys are wrong and most baseball fans won't be offended.
I think Giuliani is pandering to NH voters who are likely to be Red Sox fans. He figures that there will be some positive spin with him being seen with a red sox cap on at some gatherings, without real blowback from Yankees fans, who have stopped watching anyway that Jeter isn't on TV anymore this year. I don't know how many people will pick up on this cheap pandering, but that's what it is.
OK, that helps. "Real" Yankees fans and "Real" Red Sox fans will understand that Giuliani is just pandering shamelessly--since he has previously pretended to be a die-hard loyalist--but the fair-weather fans will probably find the red cap to be appealing. Besides, one should not expect too much analysis from the Republican crowd anyhow.
I was at the airport last night. I mentioned the Giuliani thing and the guy next to me went off about how mad he was when he had heard that. The guy sits behind home plate at yanks games, he said. And this random bar patron was wearing a Cal cap.
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