Baseball and Politics by Al Sikes

My baseball team is the team of my youth—the St. Louis Cardinals. I can recall as a Little Leaguer trying out Stan Musial’s batting stance. Whoops!

Occasionally I watch as another great Cardinal’s hitting stance is deconstructed. Albert Pujols’ baseball statistics fill many minutes of banter during the dead moments of the game. But, back to the play-by-play; arguments about the game itself are resolved, by the score.

I wish it were possible to apply the game’s numerical conclusion to political differences. Theoretically it is, but inconstancy is deadly. Republicans speak endlessly about lowering the deficit and then raise it. Democrats crow continually about some new welfare program that looks like earlier ones that failed. The data genius, as commentator, would quickly pronounce both parties brain dead.

But it doesn’t seem to matter as identitarian politics have eclipsed issues about how our dollars are spent. Race and gender and presumed morality have taken over.

Both parties are now lined up across a Maginot line. But, unlike the actual line in France in WWII, political parties today are fighting with 21st Century communication weapons. Foreign adversaries use similar network weapons against America, taking their lead from poisonous politics on the home front. Perverse alliance.

A transition in our culture has been underway for several decades; and now, at times, it veers toward the convulsive. When I was young each meal was a family one—yes, we all gathered around the same table. Surprise, since we didn’t have a smartphone, circumstances conspired to cause us to listen and even talk to our parents. Now we spend much of our time paying attention to social media marketers. Yes marketers, working on their brand and our head.

Today’s politics is often populated by loudmouths whose aggression is amped algorithmically. They know that anger is irresistible and specialize in it. At any given hour I can dial in (old speak) to some engineered outrage committed by the other side. And now the other side polls as enemies. Take a look; across an array of pollsters and survey questions those of the other party are seen not as opponents but enemies. 

In baseball most games end in the 9th inning with a winner and loser. In politics, cycles are at least two years long and campaigns begin the day the latest results are announced. (That is until Donald Trump decided vote counting could not be allowed to make him a loser).

One of our nation’s founders, James Madison, in Federalist 10, one of 85 historic essays about the role of government, wrote about human’s tendency to fall into factions. He worried that resulting animosities would lead to debilitating divisions. Madison was right.

Factions populate history, but now animosities can be networked instantaneously. We are all on the receiving end while a small subset of propagandists engage in this insidious game. This is a power game and the players don’t really care about America. 

Those who script this game are demagogues and they use performative emotion and tools of manipulation. The narrative lead is played by a righteous protagonist who is incensed by, well pick your enemy. Words are used as explosive devices and you are encouraged to use your social media network to let your friends know about the outrage of the moment.

There is a beginner’s version of this game and the narrator is often crude. More advanced editions feature clever thrusts and TikTok animations. The Russians, Iranians and Chinese pay attention to both editions, looking for accelerants and they find them. 

In a noisy world where headlines, tweets and rapid-fire ads shape attention spans, it is very difficult to use reason as a countervailing force. Many voters will not move beyond the easily understood—performative shorthand. Additionally, thoughtful people often regard politics as the plague and cynicism is much easier than analysis. Unfortunately, news media too often feature point-of-view news. 

The descent from norms moves inexorably to primary elections, which are determined by a small number of eligible voters—approximately 19%. A much smaller sub-set of intensely driven voters, about 4.5% of all voters (do the math), choose the general election candidates for each party. The hard Left and Right exploit this fact; it is the source of much of their leverage and especially in closed primary states.

I have just returned from a Country First Summit led by Congressman Adam Kinzinger, which showcased grassroots reform work now underway. Check out Principles First, Bridge USA, Civic Genius and Unify America and, of course, Country First. They were all featured at the Summit and derive energy from youthful leadership certain that, unless our politics improve, their generation is in deep trouble. 

Country First emphasizes country over party and is a light in the darkness. In a world where the rabid and delusional are given a microphone, we need light.

For more information on these organizations please click on their link:

Principles First
Bridge USA
Civic Genius
Unify America
Country First

Al Sikes is the former Chair of the Federal Communications Commission under George H.W. Bush. Al writes on themes from his book, Culture Leads Leaders Follow published by Koehler Books.