The Home Team Mentality

Recently I went to an upscale Hollywood eatery with some friends where I was introduced to a young woman from Arizona who will be voting for the first time in November. After some polite small-talk, the conversation turned to politics and when I asked her who she was voting for, she proudly told me John McCain.

When I asked her if she shared McCain's views on a no-timetable war, she said, "No". So, I asked her if she shared McCain's views on abortion and she said, "No". Growing more confused I asked her if she thought Sarah Palin was truly ready to be a heartbeat away from the presidency and she said, "No". Maybe I was missing something. I did the math in my head again then asked her why she would vote for McCain? She looked at me as if the answer was obvious and said, "My parents are Republicans".

Was that it? Was there no other thought process involved in formulating her decision other than toeing the family party line?

Her answer made me remember going to my first Dodger game in 1963. It was the night Sandy Koufax pitched a no-hitter and from that moment on I was a Dodger fan, proudly rooting for the home team. I collected trading cards and the walls of my room were covered with posters of Koufax, Wills and Roseboro -- but as the years went by and Koufax and the other players who had captured my imagination retired I begin to realize that it wasn't the same team. Year after year the Dodgers let me down and one day I realized that I was rooting for something that I once believed in, but no longer did: I was rooting for a trademark. I think to some extent that is the problem with politics today. So many of us are locked in that 'home team mentality.'

I meet so many people who have moved to Los Angeles. Cubs fans. Knicks fans. Lions fans. Why do these people continue year after year to put their hopes in organizations that have consistently let them down time and time again? It's because they have a stake in them. They've invested their trust in them and they want them to prove they we were right in doing so.

It's just silly to vote for McCain because he is Republican. It's even sillier to vote for him just because you are a Republican -- but that's what he is counting on. He wants Republicans and independents to look beyond the state of the country and believe that somehow approaching the same problems in the same way will somehow yield a different outcome.

I can't think of another election that is more important than this one. We are faced with serious issues: two wars, a failing economy, the highest unemployment figures in years - not to mention the price of gas and America's waning image of respectability throughout the world. People are fed up. George W. Bush has the lowest approval rating of any president I can remember in my lifetime. So why aren't Bush's low ratings accurately reflected in the presidential polls? It's because Republicans want to believe. They want a political leader to validate the trust they put in their party.

After eight years of George Bush, voting for McCain -- who agrees with him ninety percent of the time -- makes no sense to me at all. When employees don't do their job we fire them. When relationships don't give us what we need we end them -- but for some reason when it comes to politics this logic seems to fly out the window.

Voting for the same political ideals that got us where we are now is like waking up every morning and finding a carton of spoiled milk in the refrigerator. We know it's bad -- it smells awful -- but we don't throw it away, because maybe it'll taste better tomorrow.

More than ever this is a time to vote on the issues. Forget about red or blue -- left or right. Stop rooting for the home team just because you know the names on the roster and ask yourself who is going to do the best job guiding the country out of it's current problems? No candidate can appeal to every personal preference. If you are pro-life you differ with Obama on that issue -- but are you pro-jobs? Pro-health care? Pro-Main Street? Do you want the war to end? Do you want the economy to get better?

John McCain is proud of saying "Country First," but in a dishonorable campaign of lies, half-truths and constant flip-flopping he has proven time time again that his platform is built on an 'anything goes' strategy. He is the 'more of the same' candidate', using political slight of hand to try and distract us from the issues. At a time when the country is looking for intelligent leadership, what does John McCain offer us? Sarah Palin. In his first test of leadership with all the great minds and experience at his disposal, the best he can do is Sarah Palin. I will say this: if you are a fan of the home-team then she sure knows how to fire you up... doggone it! She wants you to think about next years team and forget about the last eight losing seasons!

Now I realize that a few lines in this blog are never going to change the thinking of hard-core Republicans, but to all you Independents out there who view yourselves as more than "Joe Six Pack" or a "Hockey Mom" I ask you think about where we are and how we got here. If you're a Republican who is disillusioned with the current state of our government then I would ask you to consider what we need to do to change it.

And to all the rest of you who think that John McCain is really going to to give us change and set the country on a different path, I've got some Buccaneer tickets for next years Super Bowl I'd like to sell you.

Comments

[standard]

The point you make is valid--but it carries even further.

MOST PEOPLE DON'T THINK.

Instead, they adopt a sports team to root for, a political philosophy to adhere to, and a religion to believe in so as to achieve, in each case, camouflage: the protective sameness that minimizes conflict with and maximizes acceptance by their family, friends and neighbors.

Most Americans will tell you, "You can get a good education at ANY college." While that is largely wishful thinking (based on the extreme cost of attending a really prestigious college), it conveniently lumps together Liberty University (where there is a credal test to be on the faculty and a clear agenda as to what the graduates are supposed to believe) and such exemplary liberal arts colleges as Reed, Carleton, Swarthmore, Colgate and most of the Ivy League (where learning HOW to think, not what to think, is the underlying objective).

Politics is no different, as you quite clearly note. Neo-Consand other ideologues just seethe when their opinions are treated less seriously than those of folks who start with facts and develop theories and approaches that reflect reality--as a opposed to what Neo-Cons and other ideologues do: start with plausible conclusions and generate convenient "facts" to support them.

The sooner most Americans see this as true, the sooner we can effectively deal with our national problems.

[BadChristian]

I think this is a great post, Mr. Mirman.
It is only fitting to the current state of affairs that, while people are so plainly voting along with their branding, that the Republican ticket is running on being "Mavericks."
Issues are no where near the importance of personality politics in this country. Even being considered an "Issues voter" is a branding.

[Brad Mirman - Huffpost Blogger]

Thank you. We can always find a label for everything, the trick is wearing the label out of a free and informed choice, or because a large institution slapped it on us.

[LisaLisa1234]

Yes!!!!!

I was telling my husband a few weeks ago that the "home team" sports culture has permeated politics. I have the enviable position of watching the Super Bowl each year with no emotional ties whatsoever (my football team, the Rams, lost me after the Pat Hayden era). This allows me to enjoy the game based on great plays that are made...by both teams. It's a fantastic way to watch the game! I'm not so lucky in basketball...love my Lakers & Grizzlies, but only the Tigers get me really worked up.

My point to my husband was that it seems the party faithful are so determined to get "their guy" elected, the only way to really do it is for the "other guy" (or gal) to be terrible, hated, no good at all.

As an independent, I am able to vote for a candidate--not a party line, not a team. It's very freeing. It allows me to look at all the issues. The only downside is, it's a lot more work.

[Brad Mirman - Huffpost Blogger]

If only we could vote the issues and not the party.

[tompoe]

It's going to take a few days to sink in, but on September 19, 2008, Paulson demanded entitlement for Bush's $1 trillion dollar going away present to his cronies. It was at that moment the RNC admitted their party is the Party of Corporate Welfare. America does not tolerate corporate welfare. The Republican Party is now irrelevant in American politics. Those conservatives that do not want to belong to the Party of Corporate Welfare will have to form another party. They will have to adopt a platform that condemns corporate welfare. The next time you meet a Republican, remind them they belong to the Party of Corporate Welfare. America does not tolerate corporate welfare.

[Brad Mirman - Huffpost Blogger]

Very well said

[wendix]

I am a Phoenix resident and find that many people here have that "Home Team" mentality.

While I know John McCain doesn't believe in ear marks, I keep asking what has he done for us lately? He brings little money to the state for projects, infact we have attempted to entice scientists for nano technology here and they have since fled the state. Google is closing up the office here when it was hearlded to be bringing jobs to the Valley.

It is difficult to find people here who are open minded. The Democrats have increased their ranks and we are embarassed by Senator McCain. Apparently his senate office has had so many calls (negative) recently about his campaign tactics they are pretty rude when you call even if it's about a senate issue.

So...as you can see we have our work cut out for us here in the valley of the sun.

Keep your fingers crossed

[Indedave]

My stepdaughter's 18-year-old boyfriend just voted for McCain by early ballot. So much for the youth vote. I guess getting rid of all those leftist, pinko commies in our educational system succeeded. Test scores have fallen to the floor and produced another generation of cannon-fodder consumers ready to be exploited by the Roves of this country.

[Freesia2]

Maybe you should offer them Cub's tickets instead? :-)

I'd like to have a word with that young lady. It would be in the nature of "do as I say not as I DID" because I have to make a confession - the first time I voted I voted for Ronald Reagan because......my Republican parents did. It was no more thought through than that. Looking on the wreckage those trickle down economics have wrought, I'd like to have a word with another young lady - ME circa 1984.

Since then I learned to read and ask questions and think. I became one of the registered Independents you wrote of. And the 45 year old me is voting for Obama. Thrilled about it.

[Brad Mirman - Huffpost Blogger]

It's so easy to go along with what he know... what we've been told. It's a lot harder to be an individual and think for yourself. Choices have to be made from convictions, not social pressure.

[BillZBubb]

The young woman you talked to is like too many Republicans: she doesn't want to think. For them it is always "give me the easy answer". What could be easier than voting Republican because that's what your parents do? No thought required.

[Brad Mirman - Huffpost Blogger]

I am not saying that democrats don't do the same thing -- they do, but to a lesser degree. In general democrats are more likely to view an issue on its merits and not its political party associations.