Friday, August 31, 2012

Presidential Baseball Analogy

I was watching a baseball game the other night on TV and the home team was playing really bad.  They hit in to numerous double plays and their pitching wasn't holding the other team back very well.  The home team was losing.  Long about the 6th inning I noticed that the crowd was pretty quiet as they hadn't had anything to cheer about in awhile.  Then I heard those familiar organ riff's designed to invoke a verbal-shout-type of a response.  After that it was the wave and antics from the mascot.  It seemed to me that they were trying to do everything to distract the fans away from the fact that their team was losing.

So I started thinking about the recent Republican National Convention and how stations like ABC and NBC were desperately trying to distort the republican message that came to the viewer so clearly.  They began making ridiculous statements and claims that had me jumping up and down and I realized at that moment I had been distracted away from the message of the RNC as well as the failed record of the current president.

Watching MSNBC after the debate (I like to surf the cable news nets to get a 'feel') I was immediately assaulted by ranting and raving hosts quadruple-ganging up on a convention delegate about something Paul Ryan had said in his speech.  It was like a feeding frenzy.  These guys were so full of fervor and gusto (I'll have what she's having) that I suddenly felt my political-news-libido might need a supplement.

Back to baseball-
I think it is clear that the home team (Obama) is not performing very well in this political season.  Their offense is dismal, Joe Biden is their best hitter right now and their pitching isn't fooling anybody.  While the visiting team (Romney/Ryan) seems to be hitting on all cylinders. Even without the help of the biased umpires (network and cable news) making all judgement calls for the Obama team while the Romney team can't seem to get a break. But you just can't get away with calling a home run an out!

And all the while the home team stadium activity coordinators (News pundits of the left) are blowing up beach balls and pushing them into the crowd as quickly as possible, playing Pavlovic organ riffs with great zeal and periodically changing the score to make the fans think their team isn't really doing that bad.

As a fan, you may get distracted for a moment but in the back of your mind you never forget that your team is losing.  At some point (8th inning) when you only have a half dozen outs to go, the fan, no matter how much fun they are having personally, sort of resigns to the fact that 'their team is probably not going to win'.

That time is coming soon.  But it's still the top of the 7th, Romney's team has bases loaded and no outs and seems hungry for more.  These are the scenarios where a well placed single can score two runs and most fans are expecting at least one single (Ok if we can get out of this inning only giving up 2 runs that would be good).

Back to Politics-
Romney and Ryan seem to have energy and virtue going forward.  They communicated clear enticing intentions which now have a majority listening in for the details and they look like they could be champs if they just keep performing.  It's theirs to lose.

But, Obama and Biden are coming up with the middle of their lineup (3,4 and 5 hitters) and the fans desperately cheering for them to do something at the plate. (sorry I just can't get away from the analogy).  The bottom of the 7th is coming up next week at the Democratic National Convention and we are all going to see one of two things:
1)  They get some runners in scoring position and drive home a few runs with 2 full innings to go (hope)
2)  They go down in order (even though the umpires will continue to say they scored when they didn't)

As for me, I like to sit back and enjoy the slow pace of the game because it reminds me of America..

No Matter What The Score Is, Any Player Can Hit A Home Run At Anytime And Change the Momentum Of The Game.  

BECAUSE IN AMERICA ANYTHING IS POSSIBLE

by David W. Andersen