A recent article in The Nation has sparked ridicule for its assertion that the Democratic Party’s “dark embrace” of football could harm its chances with young voters. The piece, penned by the magazine’s sports editors, delves into the world of pseudointellectualism, warning that the party’s attempts to capitalize on the sport could backfire.
The article posits that conservatives view football as their own, and that the Harris-Walz ticket’s efforts to highlight Minnesota Governor Walz’s assistant coaching days may alienate Kamala Harris from younger voters. However, this argument is based on outdated assumptions, including the notion that Colin Kaepernick is still a relevant figure in the sports world.
In reality, the NFL has long since moved on from the Kaepernick controversy, and young voters are unlikely to be swayed by the Democrats’ stance on football. Instead, the party’s focus should be on winning over Rust Belt voters, who may be more receptive to a pro-football message than the anti-Semitic and pro-Hamas factions that the party has been accused of appeasing.
The article’s assertion that Democrats embracing football could signal to young voters that “the big tent isn’t big enough for them” is a particularly egregious example of liberal navel-gazing. It’s a “wide right” moment, a miscalculation that drills down into areas of the topic that are either irrelevant or uninteresting to most people.
As James Carville has noted, the Democratic Party needs to stop being preachy and avoid messaging that comes across as too female-oriented. Voters don’t respond well to being told what to do, and attacking quintessential American institutions like football and hamburgers is a surefire way to lose middle America.
Even Nate Silver has expressed incredulity at the article, calling it possibly the worst take of the 2024 election cycle.
