Baseball And The Primaries

I realize they do not have a major league baseball team in New Hampshire (or Iowa for that matter) but yesterday’s primary reminded me how much the Presidential Primary process resembles baseball. Let me first put in the disclaimer that I am a political junkie. I enjoy watching election coverage, I enjoy watching the political conventions of the parties and stay up late just to watch the call of the states, which most Americans nowadays find boring. So it probably comes as no surprise when I say that I was watching the television last night very closely, watching the returns from New Hampshire.

This, in and of itself, reminded me of watching baseball; staying up late to watch an important game; hanging on each pitch and holding my breath to see the outcome. That is just the start, however. While I do not care for this fact, the primary process is a long and drawn out process. Just like you have to pace yourself in baseball for a 162 game season, you have to pace yourself in the primary for the long haul. Just like some teams get knocked out of the race earlier than others, some candidates get knocked out earlier than others. Just like there are stories of comebacks and chokes in baseball, you have them in the primaries as well.

In addition, candidates need to be able to use two different strategies. The primary process is long and drawn out. The general election is over in one day. It is true that candidates get a number of days to campaign from the point they became the standard bearer for their party until the general election but things change significantly once the candidate secures the nomination. In baseball, you need to be able to finish in first place (or second if you are the wildcard) to get to postseason. That is a long, drawn out process and teams need to be put together to handle that. Then when you are in postseason, teams need to be put together to handle short series. It takes two different styles.

Obviously it is not all the same. It amazes me that in the primaries if a candidate takes Iowa and New Hampshire by decent margins (as John Kerry did four years ago), then become the favorite to win and a lot of candidates start bowing out. In baseball, it takes more than two wins or two losses at the beginning of the season to determine which teams are pretenders and which ones are contenders.

Still, perhaps by love of baseball and of the game of politics and the primary process can be understood based on the similarities.