Pick 38 - The Debates

Like millions of others last night, I watched the Republican debate. I watched it mainly for entertainment because I knew from past experience there would be nothing new or factual revealed.  Ever since the live Nixon-Kennedy TV Debate, these spectacles have been more choreographed than anything the World Wide Wrestling Federation could possibly achieve. The very fact that a spontaneous flub or appealing nuance can shift voter loyalty by several polling points is astounding. What other professional sport can boast that capability? Even in the great American sport of baseball, it takes a pitcher multiple shut out games and a hitter a string of home runs to pull the slightest fan loyalty away from the opposing team. So if we were to take a closer look at Presidential Debates using the criteria applied to professional baseball, we would easily conclude that a league realignment and some basic rule changes were in order.

Let's start with league alignments. Yes there are two distinct political franchises  and each  has its own team color and mascot. But don't let that comparison with other professional team leagues fool you. In baseball, everyone understands that the Yankees have always stood for and will always stand for a style of competition based on the principle that big money draws the best players. A team composed of the best players in the entire league is more likely to win more games than the average team. Likewise Yankee fans don't buy expensive season tickets with the naive  hope that their team "might" win the World Series. They count on it. Red Sox fans may depend on faith,hope and luck, but not Yankee fans. Winning is part of the Yankee brand.

With American Political parties, there is no such enduring brand recognition. Some seasons one team wins despite the odds and other seasons, the opposition wins against the very same odds. To make matters worse, the average fan has no way of keeping score nor is there a seasoned group of objective referees who are charged with keeping the playing field level. For those who were dumbfounded when a bad call was made by an inexperienced replacement referee at the Packers vs Seahawks game, imagine the same game with no referees. That is essentially what we have now in the sport of American Politics. The highest level of authority on the field during the World Series of Presidential Elections will be the volunteer officials at each polling both across the nation. Although their primary responsibility is to ensure that all legal votes are counted, we know how that worked in the 2001 Presidential election. But this blog is dedicated to finding the hidden value in events such as this. Where is it?

The more American voters can relate Presidential Debates to their favorite professional sport, the easier it will be for them to ferret out misaligned teams and develop enforceable rules for score keeping and selection of the winner. With that ability will come a brand loyalty that is based on preference not prejudice. Divisiveness will give way to good old-fashioned rivalry.  And best of all, the Political Franchises may begin to draft formidable candidates from the entire pool of eligible players instead of having to depend on an in-bred bull pen of wanna be leaders backed by financiers with no skin in the game.

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