World Series May Change Ballgame for Candidates

Sacramento

Ahomemade sign held by a cheering San Francisco Giants fan read: “Ca. World Series. Deal Wi/It.”

The message was flashed by television from Pacific Bell Park to baseball fans across America on Monday night. But it could just as easily have been meant for California political candidates and their strategists.

A San Francisco-Anaheim World Series. Northern California vs. the Southland. A major league distraction from politics that will not be removed -- if the series lasts a full seven games -- until eight days before the election.

Then there’s the crowing and carping. And the victory parade.

Deal with it, gurus!

This Fall Classic will change the game plan of many candidates for high office.

The conventional wisdom -- although not every political pro subscribes -- is that the California series will:

* Help front-runners by denying trailing opponents the public attention they need to catch up. Front-runners like Gov. Gray Davis.

“People only have X amount of attention they can pay to anything,” says Democratic consultant Bill Carrick. “Work and family are the hot things on the mind. ‘Then what do I think about?’

“All of a sudden, I’m spending time on baseball. I’m reading about the matchups between Giants and Angels players. I did that [Tuesday] morning instead of reading about politics.

“And I’m in the business. Can you imagine what real people do?”

* Help well-heeled candidates -- like Davis -- by offering a huge TV market in which to advertise. World Series time is very expensive: $20,000 for a 30-second spot in L.A., $15,000 in San Francisco, according to a political ad buyer.

But “it’s one of the best buys in politics,” says Democratic consultant Richie Ross. “If you want to reach male voters, it doesn’t get any better. It is spectacular.... You pay for what you get in life.”

* Help incumbents -- Davis again -- by lifting the spirits of voter-fans. Suddenly, as the election approaches, people feel California may be headed in the right direction, after all, rather than off on the wrong track.

(In a recent Times poll, only 36% of likely voters thought the state was going in the right direction; 53% said wrong track.)

The warm glow of a World Series has helped past politicians running for reelection.

When the New York “Miracle Mets” upset the Baltimore Orioles to win the 1969 World Series, embattled Mayor John Lindsay rode the city’s celebration back into office, many analysts theorized.

This is how Mets outfielder Art Shamsky later summed up his amazing team’s effect on the public mood: “That was such a depressing time in America. The Vietnam War was going on. New York had all kinds of problems. We made people forget about that. We made people feel good, not only in New York, but all over America.”

In 1975, unpopular Boston Mayor Kevin White was in a tough reelection battle. Young council member Joseph Timilty was gaining fast -- until the Red Sox got into the World Series against the Cincinnati Reds.

The Red Sox lost the series, four games to three, but it kept Boston mesmerized for two weeks. There were three rain postponements leading to what many consider the greatest World Series game ever played -- won by the Red Sox, in Boston, on Carlton Fisk’s all-time highlight home run.

White was reelected, recalls Timilty advisor Pat Caddell, because “Boston got into the World Series, and the city stopped being angry. People got excited and attention was diverted.”

But Caddell, who later became President Carter’s pollster and now lives in L.A., doubts this World Series will affect state political races.

A city gets hooked on its team more than an entire state does, he notes. “Also, I don’t think people are focused on the election anyway. Why should they? There is no election here. There is no democracy.”

Caddell is angry because Democratic and Republican leaders rigged most congressional and legislative districts to ensure victory for the incumbent party. Of 153 races this year, only eight, at most, are truly competitive.

But that’s for another column. This one’s about baseball.

The World Series is a free extra base for the governor, if he can avoid reckless running:

* No airing ugly attack ads and irritating comfy fans while they’re enjoying baseball.

* No throwing out a first pitch and getting showered with boos.

* No claiming credit for an all-California World Series.

Just relish the moment.

For most of us, sports is a God-given, temporary escape from the real rigors of life. Now, baseball will permit us to escape political dirtball. For a while, we can focus on the Giants and Angels, rather than the candidates’ nasty pitches.

The politicians can deal with it by thinking positive, like the fans.