Ben E Lou
02-19-2006, 04:30 PM
Classic. :D
The transition from sports to politics is not easy one
But the move from the athletic field to political arena does not always prove to be a slam dunk.
Scott Shepard / Cox News Service
February 15, 2006
WASHINGTON -- Although politics is often called a contact sport, it isn't always easy for athletes to make the leap from one arena to the next. This political season, though, two more are trying to make the team: former Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver Lynn Swann and former Washington Redskins quarterback Heath Shuler.
Swann, a member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame, has his eyes on the governor's office in Pennsylvania. Shuler, a standout at Tennessee but a high-paid washout with the Redskins, is running for Congress in western North Carolina.
Like celebrity athletes before them, Swann and Shuler have the kind of name recognition that usually takes professional politicians decades to achieve. But that kind of name recognition may need a little tweaking if the athlete's sporting career was less than stellar.
As John Lapp, the executive director of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, put it recently when discussing candidates the party had recruited to run against Republicans in this year's congressional races: "We have over 40 candidates in top seats. We have great candidates, like Heath Shuler, who is a better candidate than he was quarterback for the Redskins."
John Pitney, a political science professor at Claremont McKenna College in California, explains it this way: "Athlete candidates may draw support, but they face three sources of opposition.
"First are the fans who rooted for opposing teams. Second are the fans who rooted for the athlete's team but are angry about the game they lost. Third are the nerds who have never rooted for any teams, and still resent athletes for getting all the girls in high school."
In fact, the most recent Keystone Poll of voters in football crazy Pennsylvania found evidence of team loyalties affecting political allegiances in the gubernatorial campaign, at least in the first quarter of the contest. Democratic-leaning areas of Pittsburgh are favoring Swann, the Republican.
Republican-leaning areas of Philadelphia are favoring Ed Rendell, the Democratic incumbent.
"This is a problem both candidates are going to have to tackle," said G. Terry Gordon, director of the Keystone Poll at Franklin and Marshall College.
"Tackle -- get it? The metaphors are endless."
The transition from sports to politics is not easy one
But the move from the athletic field to political arena does not always prove to be a slam dunk.
Scott Shepard / Cox News Service
February 15, 2006
WASHINGTON -- Although politics is often called a contact sport, it isn't always easy for athletes to make the leap from one arena to the next. This political season, though, two more are trying to make the team: former Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver Lynn Swann and former Washington Redskins quarterback Heath Shuler.
Swann, a member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame, has his eyes on the governor's office in Pennsylvania. Shuler, a standout at Tennessee but a high-paid washout with the Redskins, is running for Congress in western North Carolina.
Like celebrity athletes before them, Swann and Shuler have the kind of name recognition that usually takes professional politicians decades to achieve. But that kind of name recognition may need a little tweaking if the athlete's sporting career was less than stellar.
As John Lapp, the executive director of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, put it recently when discussing candidates the party had recruited to run against Republicans in this year's congressional races: "We have over 40 candidates in top seats. We have great candidates, like Heath Shuler, who is a better candidate than he was quarterback for the Redskins."
John Pitney, a political science professor at Claremont McKenna College in California, explains it this way: "Athlete candidates may draw support, but they face three sources of opposition.
"First are the fans who rooted for opposing teams. Second are the fans who rooted for the athlete's team but are angry about the game they lost. Third are the nerds who have never rooted for any teams, and still resent athletes for getting all the girls in high school."
In fact, the most recent Keystone Poll of voters in football crazy Pennsylvania found evidence of team loyalties affecting political allegiances in the gubernatorial campaign, at least in the first quarter of the contest. Democratic-leaning areas of Pittsburgh are favoring Swann, the Republican.
Republican-leaning areas of Philadelphia are favoring Ed Rendell, the Democratic incumbent.
"This is a problem both candidates are going to have to tackle," said G. Terry Gordon, director of the Keystone Poll at Franklin and Marshall College.
"Tackle -- get it? The metaphors are endless."