Hillary Clinton and the 1986 Mets
This morning, I saw a picture of Hillary Clinton on the front cover of Newsday. Above her smiling face were these words:
The Underdog? Like ‘86 Mets, Clinton will pull it out, aides say.
Opening the paper, I read the following by Glenn Thrush on Page 6, “A few hours after the polls closed, a Clinton staffer e-mailed a friend an Oct.26, 1986 New York Times story of the World Series Game 6 win over the Red Sox, with the subject line: “Deja vu.”" (Read the whole story here.)
Okay. I love sports metaphors. Let’s see what we can do with this. Here are:
TEN THINGS THAT HILLARY CLINTON AND THE 1986 NEW YORK METS HAVE IN COMMON:
1) They’re both wide awake and ready for anything at 3 o’clock in the morning.
2) They represent New York, but they’re not from New York.
3) They both win contests in Florida that don’t count because they’re played earlier than the season is supposed to begin.
4) A lot of people like them, but a lot of people hate them and want to throw things at them.
5) They both have a good-looking, charismatic guy on the team who’s not perfect, and has been known to stick his foot in his mouth.
6) They both wear a kind of uniform that you’re not likely to find anyone else wearing.
7) They both have no support and very little name recognition among people currently under the age of 30.
8) The face they present to the world is kind of rigid, smiley, and possibly augmented by Botox.
9) Sometimes, if they can’t hit a pitch, they will accuse the opposing pitcher of scuffing the ball.
10) They both want to be remembered as the Comeback Kid, even though they were ahead from the very beginning.
As a bonus, here’s one thing that Hillary Clinton and the 1986 Boston Red Sox have in common:
They’ve both gotten a lot of sympathy because of a situation someone couldn’t control between his legs.
March 7th, 2008 at 2:06 am
Cute. I particularly like #3. But I have to disagree with you on one thing:
Mr. Met has not been augmented by Botox.
March 7th, 2008 at 2:21 am
I said “possibly.”
March 7th, 2008 at 2:21 am
Here’s one thing the current Mets team seems to have in common with John McCain: They’re old.
March 8th, 2008 at 4:27 am
Wow! Right on point and hilarious. Particularly the line about wanting to be known as the comeback kid even though they were way ahead in the beginning.
March 8th, 2008 at 6:04 am
Very cute comparisons, and very apropos. I thought it was interesting that someone compared Hillary to the 1986 Mets in the first place. it remains to be seen if Hillary rallies like the 1986 Mets, or falls short like the 2006 Mets. I hope that this years’ Mets team plays like the 1986 Mets or even the 1969 Mets.
March 8th, 2008 at 11:38 am
Yet I never found myself struggling not to despise the ‘86 Mets once a team that seemed no more plausible than the ‘86 Tides came along and outclassed them in every possible manner.
Oh well. Better than a story asking “which candidate will emerge as the Derek Jeter of this race?”
March 8th, 2008 at 3:32 pm
I hear you, Greg. And I agree. And at no point in the 1986 season did I fervently wish it could be over already.
March 11th, 2008 at 1:29 am
Leave it to the nyyopic Daily News to reposition its sports (un)metaphor:
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/2008/03/09/2008-03-09_hillary_clinton_campaign_acts_like_1978_.html
March 18th, 2008 at 9:36 pm
Actually, I’d think the best Presidential candidate analogy to the Mets was Nixon. In the sense that every time you thought there was no other possible way he could disappoint and disgust you, the next day was even more appalling. :p