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When two of the fiercest rivals in all professional sports – teams 400 miles apart in California – face off in a dramatic playoff series, what should a politician do?
For some, choosing between the San Francisco Giants and the Los Angeles Dodgers is easy.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who represents San Francisco, attends Giants games frequently and has previously quoted one of their pitchers in a pep talk to House freshmen. The Democrat opened a press conference last week bragging about her team’s 107 baseball victories.
Minority parliamentary leader Kevin McCarthy, who represents Bakersfield, often speaks of his love for the Dodgers on social media, sharing photos with famous announcer Vin Scully and his pets with Dodgers-branded plush toys.
“Never bet against the Dodgers. Retweet if you think they’ll go all the way! #RepeatLA, he tweeted on Thursday.
Other California politicians find themselves in a bind. When the series kicks off on Friday, should they back their home team at the risk of ticking off half the state? Tribalism is strong in American politics, but it can be stronger in sports.
Some elected officials are trying to go both ways … to a point.
“As Governor of California… happy to have the guarantee of a historic playoff series between @MLB‘s two best teams – the @SFGiants and @Dodgers. Either way, a CA team moves on to the next round! Governor Gavin Newsom tweeted, before adding: “But as a native of San Franciscan… I might have a different opinion… #BeatLA”
Senator Alex Padilla, who is from Los Angeles, applauded the governor:
“As a senator from California … happy to have the guarantee of a historic playoff series between @MLB‘s two best teams – the @SFGiants and @Dodgers. Either way, a CA team goes on to the next round. But as a native Angeleno, I might have a different opinion …#LetsGoDodgers“replied Padilla.
Padilla also tweeted a photo of his Senate office with a Dodgers jersey draped over his chair and an autographed baseball cap perched on his desk.
Her Bay Area colleague Senator Dianne Feinstein was born in San Francisco and is steadfast in her support.
Feinstein “is a loyal Giants fan and will support his home team,” said assistant Tom Mentzer.
Vice President Kamala Harris, who grew up in Berkeley and was a San Francisco district attorney, also plans to cheer on the Giants. She has received criticism for supporting the Dodgers in years past, including the time she wore the Los Angeles team hat during a debate in 2019, or in 2015 when the California Attorney General of the era supported the team against the Mets after the Giants. have been eliminated.
“I always wish any CA team in the playoffs the best while my @SFGiants rest for next year, ”Harris said at the time on Twitter.
Harris is part of a divided household – Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff has been a lifelong Dodgers fan. The couple have compromised over the years, with each occasionally wearing athletic gear that reinforces the other’s team.
Navigating such loyalties can be tricky, but they are particularly difficult in politics.
Running to fill the Senate seat of the late Ted Kennedy, Massachusetts Atty. General Martha Coakley infuriated Red Sox fans that pitcher Curt Schilling, who backed rival candidate Scott Brown, was a Yankees fan. Schilling, who in 2004 led the Red Sox to their first World Series victory since 1918, was loved by Bostonians. She also rejected the retail policy, saying, “Are you outside Fenway Park? In the cold? Shake hands? ”Brown beat Coakley easily.
In the 2008 presidential race, after his Chicago White Sox were no longer in contention, then Sen. Barack Obama was reprimanded by his rival, Senator John McCain, for saying at a campaign event in Philadelphia that he would support the Phillies, and then days later for supporting the Tampa Bay Rays in a speech in Florida.
Hillary Clinton, a longtime Chicago Cubs fan, was considered naked prey for donning a New York Yankees cap shortly before running for the State Senate. (She protested that she had long supported both teams.)
Can-Rep. Michele Bachmann was mocked when during a tailgate at the 2011 Iowa-Iowa State football game, the presidential candidate wore a top that appeared to be sewn from one half of a Hawkeyes jersey and d half of a Cyclones jersey.
Five years later, when former Hewlett-Packard chief Carly Fiorina rooted for Iowa rather than Stanford – where she is a former student – at the Rose Bowl, SBNation wrote: ” the presidential election shamelessly turned its back on its alma mater to get votes in Iowan.
The Iowans apparently weren’t impressed. Both gravely lost caucuses and ended their presidential candidacy shortly thereafter.
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