I’ve been working for a political campaign in Indiana the past several months. While I had worked on campaigns before, and had experience working both in isolation and with very long hours, I admittedly struggled making the adjustments the first few weeks of the campaign. I remember discussing my situation with a friend who had worked campaigns in the past, asking for advice.
“Your problem is simple” he told me. “You’re going about this like it’s just business. You can’t function that way. It’s got to be personal.”
This was true. While I cared about the results of the race in an abstract way (I generally prefer Democratic congressional candidates to Republican ones, I highly dislike the Tea Party, the candidate’s political opinions were similar to my own, etc), I didn’t have particular emotional attachment to anything, or anybody. I had never lived in Northern Indiana before, or even been there. I didn’t like Notre Dame. My congressional district was dangerously close to Michigan, a state that I swore to despise my entire life. I was all business.
I had worked a few campaigns before, albeit not professionally. I worked a school levy campaign early in my college career, because the town was very near my own, I came from a family of educators, and I was desperately wanting legitimate work experience to shore up my feeble resume. I volunteered for the Obama campaign several times at OSU, not just because I believed in Obama’s policy positions, but because I deeply bought into the emotional aspects of the campaign…the idea of a responsible grown-up being in charge, a campaign that spoke to our better selves, etc. Also, I had a crush on another volunteer. It wasn’t just business. It was personal.
Political staffers have to put up with a LOT. They work ridiculous hours, live in substandard housing, put up with daily humiliation, and for lousy wages. Volunteers do all of the same, but for free. You can do this for a little while “for business”, but in order to be successful, to stick around for the long haul, to actually WIN, it has to be personal on some level. I got to that point through personal relationships. Many of my coworkers were actual Hoosiers and have real connections to the specific issues. It got personal every time I saw a friend get taunted, or saw somebody I respected work longer and harder than me. The only reason to wake up in the morning and go to work was because it was about something bigger than a single election. It’s that way for anybody who actually follows politics.
I thought of all this while watching the Boston/Miami basketball game after work.
The game should be compelling on it’s own merits. It features one of the most storied sports franchises of any sport, and 7 of the best 20 or so basketball players in the game, including 2 of the most polarizing. I’m a fan of the game of basketball in it of itself, but the real reason I’m watching (and thoroughly enjoying myself) is so I can unabashedly HATE on Lebron James.
Yeah, yeah, I’ve rehashed this all before. Sure, what Lebron did to Cleveland fans was scuzzy (it would be like me breaking up with a girlfriend by emailing her a sex tape of me and two other girls), but that was old news right? You can’t keep living in the past Matt! Don’t be an NBA Old Maid. Get excited for the JJ Hickson and Ramon Sessions show. SCREW THAT NOISE.
Hating on a guy makes you feel alive. It personalizes the game for you, and doubles your chances of reaching a sports euphoria (instead of just feeling good when the Cavs win, I can rejoice when the Heat lose). Richard Nixon hated his way all the way into the White House. Hulk Hogan hated his way into Professional Wrestling Fame. Hell, Darth Vader perfected the art of hating…letting it turn him into an intergalactic badass, storming the galaxy in his star-destroying ride. Fear leads to Anger. Anger leads to Hate….and Hate leads to force chokin’ fools without faith. Would Darth Vader be a badass without letting things get personal? No.
Also, yeah yeah I’m aware that SPOILER ALERT: Vader doesn’t win. And you know how the Rebels beat him? By letting it get personal! Han Solo doesn’t give two turds about a bunch of space koalas and a muppet…until he decides he wants to bang Princess Leia. Skywalker wasn’t REALLY plugged in properly until he discovered he was going against his dad. Do you think any of those guys would have frozen their asses off on Hoth for the money?? Because they had political policy differences with the empire? NO WAY.
Being a sports fan, like being really involved in politics, is hard work. The hours are long, the disappointments are unforgiving, and you sometimes even get humiliated. Casual fans stay because they like the sport, they enjoy a well-executed pick and roll, etc…but the “base” of the NBA is plugged in for something bigger…whether that’s civic pride, unadulterated hating, or adoration for what a particular player represents (Kevin Durrant is to basketball what Barack Obama is to politics). We project things unrelated to the sport on team or athletes. Maybe that isn’t fair. Maybe, ideally, it wouldn’t have to be that way. But it’s the way things are now…we compensate our athletes (and our politicians) for it, and I fully intend to run in that system.
Stepping it up a notch is what gets people through campaigns, or involved in politics at all. It’s what makes sports victories (or defeats) more than just balls bouncing. I enjoyed the game…but I was also not so secretly hoping that somehow, Darth Vader would force-choke Lebron James.
Sorry Bron. That’s more than business. It’s personal.
Serious Professional 