San Francisco’s Final Victory

I am always amazed at the parallels between baseball and politics.  Perhaps it is because I have worked in politics for several years and been a baseball fan far longer.  Or perhaps it is because baseball is quintessentially American (with apologies to places where the sport was exported like Japan and the Caribbean).  It is still America’s pastime, even if it isn’t regarded with the same reverence as it once was.

Like sports, politics has a way of gripping us in its drama.  We are keenly aware of the key figures, events and symbols.  We pull for our ideological “team” and hope that they will have a good year.  Going to the polls, as many Americans are doing today, is a show of support of those candidates that we’ve placed on our team.  We may even have their brand prominently displayed on our lawn, car or chest.

Last night, as the San Francisco Giants clinched their first World Series championship since 1954, ending a 56 year drought, I could not help but draw a parallel between their victory, the 2010 elections and the recent political climate.  In recent years, San Francisco has had their share of successes, specifically political victories, but this San Francisco treat is about to meet its expiration date.

The most obvious parallel between this World Series and politics were the teams themselves.  The Giants had to square off with the Texas Rangers, a team that former President George W. Bush used to co-own before becoming Governor of Texas.  Ironically, the Rangers franchise relocated from, where else, Washington D.C., in 1972 to Arlington, less than 25 miles away from where the George W. Bush Presidential Library is currently being built.

In 2006, President Bush and Republicans, in general, faced severe voter backlash due primarily to handling of the war in Iraq, the response to Hurricane Katrina, and the scandal-ridden Republican Congress.  As a result of the elections, Representative Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), hailing from the same city as the San Francisco Giants, became the first female House Speaker and presided over the first Democratic majority of the House of Representatives since 1993.

2006 was only the beginning of the successes that Pelosi and her ideological partners were to have.  After successfully limiting President Bush’s legislative agenda between 2007 and 2008, after President Barack Obama became President in early 2009, Pelosi and her colleagues were able to pass some of the most controversial bills in history, including, most notably, the Stimulus and the healthcare reform bill

All across the country, legislators and governmental bodies have been following the lead from San Francisco, exponentially increasing public debt, growing the size and scope of government, and passing legislation that becomes more and more intrusive to the daily lives of families and small businesses.

It is fitting, then, the San Francisco Giants won the World Series on November 1st, the day before the public’s reckoning with San Francisco-style policies would come.  When the polls close today in California, some 24 hours the Giants reached the pinnacle of the sports world, San Francisco-style policies will receive the hook and return to the bench, after the hit-parade that the American electorate will place upon them.  The home team is making its comeback.