Athletic Names Do Well in Elections

AP via NYTimes.com ^ | 11/04/2002

[GeneD]

Filed at 5:23 p.m. ET

Steve Largent understands a basic rule: Athletes making the jump to politics hold one big advantage -- name recognition.

``They start with something that costs a lot of money,'' said Largent, a member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame and the Republican candidate for governor in Oklahoma.

The former University of Tulsa and Seattle Seahawks star is one of several sports figures up for election Tuesday.

Others include Salt Lake City Olympics organizer Mitt Romney, a Republican running for governor of Massachusetts; and runner Jim Ryun (Kansas) and former Cornhuskers football coach Tom Osborne (Nebraska), two Republicans seeking re-election to the House.

The 48-year-old Largent won four terms as a congressman from his home state before resigning to begin his campaign. He's in a tight race with Democrat Brad Henry and independent Gary Richardson.

Largent says the aura of sports goes only so far. Ultimately, the candidate has to deliver.

``To be successful -- that's the lure of the political system -- you have to understand the issues more, show leadership capacity,'' he said from his Tulsa, Okla., home. ``At the end of day, the electorate is a lot smarter than it's given credit for.''

Wayne Parent, chairman of Louisiana State University's political science department, says it's clear why political parties enlist sports figures.

``Often they raise a lot of money and travel in well-funded circles,'' he said. ``It's quite appealing for athletes. They have strong egos. They're treated well.''

And things commonplace in big-time sports -- the discipline, the travel, the media drum beat, the never-ending examination of wins and losses -- serve a candidate well on the political trail.

``They're able to weather the storm that is politics,'' Parent said. ``They're better prepared to mix it up in the political game. Famous athletes get the double benefit of name recognition and the confidence to play politics.''

At the point where sports and politics intersect, Bill Bradley may have risen the highest. The former Princeton and New York Knicks star was a three-term senator from New Jersey and ran for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2000.

``There's the brawn vs. brain thing,'' says Andrew Kohut, director of Pew Research Center for the People & the Press. ``But there's enough in the system to make it a little easier for them to overcome now.''

Another senator with Hall of Fame credentials is Jim Bunning, who pitched a perfect game for the Philadelphia Phillies in 1964. The Kentucky Republican is not up for re-election until 2004.

Two other U.S. senators, neither facing re-election, hold ties to sports: Colorado's Ben Nighthorse Campbell was a 1964 judo Olympian, and Wisconsin's Herb Kohl owns the NBA's Milwaukee Bucks.

Paul Wellstone, the Minnesota senator who died in a plane crash while campaigning last month, won an Atlantic Coast Conference title for North Carolina in 1964.

Among governors, Judy Martz of Montana was a speedskater at the 1964 Olympics and Jesse Ventura of Minnesota wrestled professionally. Martz is not up for re-election, and Ventura scrapped plans for a second term.

[governsleastgovernsbest]

Hope this spells doom for Kathleen Kennedy Townsend in Maryland, who famously talked about a team "scoring a football."

[job]

with a football bat, no less.