Golf and the race for the U.S. Presidency

: Jan 09

    It is looking more and more like we will not have a golfer in the White House come January 2009 (not that we have one now). That's too bad; the nation typically seems at peace when a golfer is President. Bill Clinton, the first George Bush, Dwight Eisenhower (post-Korea), Howard Taft...all renowned for their love of the game, if not their ability, and all servants of the people during relatively peaceful times. Of the golfer candidates currently running for the office, only former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani has even a remote chance of becoming President in 2009. The other golfer, Bill Richardson, will soon have plenty of time to hone his game after dismal finishes in the Iowa and New Hampshire votes.
   However, the kindly Richardson, a former Cabinet official and Ambassador to the United Nations, could be a strong candidate for vice president on either an Obama or Clinton ticket. The bet here is that he would be able to play a lot more vice presidential golf working for the strong-willed Clinton, who will count more on her husband for advice on foreign (ahem) affairs, than for the less-experienced Obama...
   Speaking of Giuliani, most of the pundits following his campaign find his strategy of going "all in" in Florida a bit strange. The mayor hardly campaigned in Iowa, made a few appearances in the final days in New Hampshire, and will be a virtual no-show in upcoming primaries in Nevada and South Carolina. But Mike

Romney doesn't have a golf handicap, but he does have a golf shirt with his name on it...

Taibbi, an MSNBC reporter, may have found the hidden meaning for the Florida strategy last night when his colleagues on the election coverage broadcast mentioned how unusually warm it was in New Hampshire. I wasn't taping the coverage, so this is a rough paraphrase of what Taibbi said in response.
    "Well," he responded, "the mayor loves to play golf, so maybe this [the weather] will spur him along."
    Perhaps Giuliani, who carries a 16 handicap at two upscale Long Island courses, figures that if he loses in Florida, he can just stay there for a few days and play...
    We tried to find a handicap rating for Mitt Romney, but he isn't listed in Massachusetts, New Hampshire (where he owns a vacation home) or Michigan, one of the other states he claims as his home (he grew up there). A Google search of "Romney" and "golf," however, does yield a number of web sites selling Mitt Romney golf shirts. We're not sure the sartorially correct candidate would wear them, however. They are kinda tacky; one has a garish and large script "Mitt 2008" stitched above the left breast. But the description of the fabric as "mid-weight" could not be more appropriate for a campaign that has finished a disappointing second in two races it expected to win...
    Perhaps the most bizarre combination of golf and the politics of the season is a site called GolfVacationsExtra which certainly offers something "extra" beyond golf. The site proprietor appears to be a Ron Paul supporter with a visceral dislike for Romney. The site includes a string of videos purporting to show voting fraud by Romney staffers during a Florida straw poll. They are a bit silly and shrill, so proceed at your own risk.