If you want to win elections in Wisconsin, political operatives understand that you never call or knock doors on Sunday afternoons during football season. In Alabama, the only teams that matter in college football are Auburn and the Alabama Crimson Tide. You’re considered rude if you don’t smile politely and nod for the entire 30 minutes or more it takes for a fan of either team to explain why. In Florida, it’s OK to poke fun at the Miami Marlins, but not too hard, and in Missouri, if you’re not all-in on Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes, you may as well move to Cleveland.
When you work in the political world, it’s challenging to keep up with life happening outside the Washington bubble. Even if you’re a campaign operative in a swing state, you’re receiving messaging and direction from nerve centers in the Beltway. There are expectations to make thousands of calls, knock on hundreds of doors, and register as many people to vote as you can every single day. Communicators need to stay on top of the news-of-the-day, which largely ignores the interests of normal human beings. People opening their doors to a campaign volunteer generally care more about missing a first down than answering questions about their satisfaction with housing policy. Political flaks forget that.
That’s where sports come in.
They’re the common denominator among millions of voters. Understanding sports loyalties and state-specific dynamics not only help politically focused professionals do their jobs better but also be better people. For my friends who will soon be deploying to states around the nation to campaign for their candidate du jour, I’d like to offer some unsolicited advice.
Wash off that swamp water and take a dip into the local paper’s sports section. It will undoubtedly help you talk to people on the ground and butter up undecided voters.
You may be thinking you don’t have time. Maybe you don’t believe it’s worth the effort. Perhaps you hate sports and think they’re all a waste of time. Again, that’s the D.C.-focused political hack inside that’s suffocating the other, better, parts of your brain. Turn off that part of your brain for a minute and engage with the person you used to be before you moved to this tiny island surrounded by reality.
Need a reference point to get you started? Here are a few freebies to the good folks heading to the Good Land, also known as Milwaukee, this coming summer.
Wisconsin has three MVPs in three different sports. Name drop any of these before your political pitch and you’ll have a captive audience. Sure, you’ll have to endure a side conversation about how Christian Yelich, star of the Milwaukee Brewers, was robbed of a back-to-back MVP title thanks to injury last season but isn’t it worth it for one more voter registration? If you want to secure another phone banking volunteer, don’t mention that Aaron Rodgers may be past his prime. (For the record, he’s still incredible, despite what happened in Sunday’s NFC championship game. Also, don’t mention that game to potential volunteers. Even by the summer, it will still hurt.) And if you want to recruit the ever-elusive door knocker, I’d talk about your overwhelming excitement that the DNC convention is being held in the same arena that Giannis Antetokounmpo is setting endless basketball records in. Oh, and learn to pronounce his name: YAH-nis AHN-teh-tuh-KOOM-poh.
The most successful candidates can relate to people. They can find common ground and hold a conversation that isn’t about how “this is the most important election in our lifetime.” Political operatives need to do the same, and sports is an easy way to do it. And if you can’t bring yourself to skim the sports section every morning, commit this opening line to memory: “I don’t really know much about [insert sport or team or player here], but people won’t stop talking about it. I’d love to hear your take.”
Then stand back and watch someone’s eyes light up as they explain why their team, their player, their sport is the greatest while simultaneously signing your volunteer sheet.
Nicole Tieman (@NicoleTieman) is a Wisconsin native, unapologetic fan of the Milwaukee Brewers, and general lover of baseball. In her spare time, she’s a communications professional in Washington, D.C.
