Frank Thomas looks at politics like a switch-hitter looks at pitchers. It’s strictly a matter of environment, of going along with circumstance.
Thomas grew up poor and black in western Georgia a generation ago. Like most folks there, and with minimal thought or choice, he and his family considered themselves Democrats.
Now Thomas plays baseball for a living, for which he is paid millions of dollars each year as an All-Star first baseman with the White Sox. Thomas still expends little effort debating his political beliefs, but the Big Hurt is the Big Convert.
“I just vote Republican,” Thomas said recently, pulling on warmups in the team’s clubhouse. “I have no choice.
“I’m a rich man now. It’s bad to say that, but it’s the truth. Taxes are out of hand for people making a certain amount of money.”
The relationship between athletes and politics does reach beyond championship squads making token White House appearances. It does not, however, go much further–even in an election year.
Thomas is an embodiment of two major factors when it comes to sports figures and government:
– Taxes, and little else, define their increasingly conservative stances.
– A lack of general interest permeates athletes.
Few are likely to watch the Democratic National Convention at the United Center this week, even if it is a familiar venue for basketball and hockey players.
Around professional baseball, the subject of politics comes up in the clubhouse about as much as the subject of a ninth-inning no-hitter comes up in the dugout. The same is true in other sports.
It is unlikely that even half of professional athletes vote regularly, defying demographics for citizens of their income. Tom McMillen, a former Democratic congressman from Maryland and ex-NBA player, estimates that as few as 20 percent of professional athletes are registered at all, and an examination of local records did not turn up any Chicago superstars.
“Some guys probably couldn’t tell you who is running for president, which is scary,” said Cubs catcher Scott Servais. Sox catcher Ron Karkovice, who as player representative is involved with union politics, said he has never gone to the ballot box.
Rep. Steve Largent (R-Okla.), a former Seahawks receiver, likewise recalled that voting was not prevalent–“and Tuesday was our day off.”
If the apathy and the narrow interests among athletes sound a lot like the apathy and the narrow interests among average citizens, it should. It’s just that for athletes, the apathy runs deeper and the interests become even more focused, but the result nevertheless still is politics.
For many athletes, these perspectives emerge from both the unique experience of playing sports professionally and from utterly commonplace upbringings. As with Thomas, the combination can yield intriguing results.
And, of course, some athletes do hold passionate views about other subjects–often to the point of voting one way or another. Many also maintain their pre-sports views, be they liberal or conservative.
But in general, what with so much money at stake, personal economics do become a major issue. As in the country at large, that most often benefits Republican candidates.
Taxes big issue
Leigh Steinberg, an agent who represents many high-profile NFL players, said that some clients were upset when Democrat Bill Clinton raised their taxes in 1993. Steinberg is involved in California Democratic circles.
“They called me, enraged, and said, `Look what your president did to me,’ ” he recalled, noting that 49ers quarterback Steve Young even sent a copy of his tax return. “There is absolutely no doubt that the effect of taxation on athletes who make a lot of money pushes them in a conservative direction.”
Clinton’s tax increase cost a player making $3 million more than $200,000 in extra income tax. It also meant some $42,000 more in Medicare tax.
“You see it every first and 15th when you receive your check,” said Sox outfielder Lyle Mouton. “I’d like to be FICA (Federal Insurance Contribution Act), because FICA takes a lot out.”
Mouton said that he “definitely” has become more conservative on tax issues, and he will consider voting for Republican presidential nominee Bob Dole in November. That’s a tough choice, in part because his mother has long been involved with Democratic politics.
Indeed, she rose from school board president to secretary of labor in Louisiana. Mouton grew up with firsthand knowledge of the programs that government can provide poor people.
Asked if he now leans liberal or conservative, Mouton said: “I’m probably a little bit of both, because each side has its good points and bad points.” When he votes this year, economics will be just one factor.
Thomas said that he still thinks like a liberal, and that he favored Clinton in 1992, but he won’t vote Democratic this year. The slugger said: “I liked his style at first. But now, when he raised those taxes, I was like, `Look out.’ It was a red flag to me.”
Former Dodgers and Padres first baseman Steve Garvey, often mentioned as a possible politician, said: “Most of the guys are bottom line. If you see 40 percent or 32 percent (tax rates), what would you do?”
Liberal leanings
Actually, many athletes who start out as Democrats remain Democrats. Like Mouton, they just might be a little less sure.
“I’d say most of them, as a result of their backgrounds, of having an understanding for the working man, lean left,” said Ron Klempner, assistant general counsel for the National Basketball Players Association. “It depends on how much they remember where they came from.”
Steinberg and Klempner believe many athletes have trouble shaking liberal upbringings–especially those who remain Democratic on social issues. They expect that blacks especially might consider Dole and then actually vote for Clinton.
Klempner noted that Dole declined to speak at the NAACP convention earlier this year, which did not sit well with some blacks. Steinberg pointed out that 90 percent of African-Americans vote Democratic, and athletes don’t easily skirt that statistic.
“A black man has no business being a Republican,” said Bears linebacker Bryan Cox. “My family has worked their whole lives and has nothing to show for it, so I’m a Democrat.”
Steinberg recalled one client who grew up in a single-parent home, then earned millions in the NFL. He doubts the money will make a difference.
“An athlete like that either would not vote at all, or vote for Clinton,” Steinberg said. “In the end, a lot will hold their noses and vote for Clinton.”
Bulls guard Steve Kerr grew up in a Democratic home, but now understands “a lot more where the Republican side is coming from.” Still, he also will vote for Clinton.
Although ambivalent about the incumbent, Kerr was not that upset about the tax increase. He also considers himself a liberal on social issues, such as being pro-choice on abortion.
“I think most of us in the NBA shouldn’t have to worry about taxes,” he said. “We make enough money.”
Sports foster conservatism
Many other athletes simply grow up Republican. Sports does nothing to change that.
“My father raised a conservative family,” said Cubs first baseman Mark Grace, who’ll vote for Dole. “You were a Republican or you got your butt out of the house.”
Indeed, for some, it’s possible that sports and conservatism go together. It’s a chicken-and-egg question, whether kids from conservative families go into sports or sports opens kids to conservatism.
Sports require order and hierarchy and discipline, qualities that probably fit better with conservatism than liberalism. Steinberg said many white players often grow up in very “traditional” families.
“These are young football players who stand in long lines to get yelled at by coaches who are like drill sergeants,” he said. “That fosters conservative politics.”
The most solidly Republican groups are golfers and tennis players, often because many come from wealthier families. Indeed, it has been written that golfers would elect conservative radio personality Rush Limbaugh to the presidency.
Auto racers also look skeptically toward Washington, often with a free-spirit tinge that arises out of an anti-government atmosphere. Athletes in all three groups, who basically run small businesses, get paid for winning and carry a heavy dose of populism.
“Most of these people who get paid for performance are conservative,” said Rep. Jim Bunning (R-Ky.), a former Phillies and Tigers pitcher. “I’ve never seen a more conservative bunch than professional golfers. If you get paid for performance . . . you would be less likely to want a welfare state.”
Pro golfer Chip Beck, of Lake Forest, agreed few golfers are liberal. He cited taxes.
“We make a lot of money over a short period,” he said. “You hope the tax rates are down during your peak years.”
NASCAR legend Richard Petty, running as a Republican for secretary of state in North Carolina, recalls campaign stops by the presidential candidates in 1992. Republican George Bush received a warm welcome at Daytona, but fans ignored Clinton at the Southern 500 in South Carolina.
“He was not accepted at all with the drivers,” said Petty, who thinks 95 percent of racers are Republicans. “They wouldn’t get their pictures taken with him or shake his hand.”
Complacency abounds
As the campaigns begin this fall, you won’t see many athletes using their high profiles to make endorsements or host fundraisers. You probably won’t see them going door to door, handing out literature.
Most professional athletes avoid such activity, at least during their careers. Many cite scheduling constraints or the lack of a candidate they like, along with the fear of potential backlash from unhappy fans.
In 1977, for example, then-Arkansas football coach Lou Holtz appeared in a television commercial for controversial Sen. Jesse Helms (R-N.C.). Holtz was criticized for the ad, which was pulled, and promised not to make any more.
“I think I’d shy away from it,” said tennis star Todd Martin. “I don’t have the time and I don’t think it’s the position for an athlete.”
But aside from real activism, why do so few even vote? There are several reasons.
One is cynicism. Like the public at large, which barely breaks 50 percent in presidential voter turnout, many athletes dislike their choices.
“All of them are a bunch of liars anyway,” said Sox outfielder Tony Phillips. “It’s amazing to me: Anybody else lies and it’s something bad. When politicians lie, it’s politics.”
Athletes also say they are too busy. They move from city to city often, making it more difficult to even register, and sometimes are out of town on Election Day.
“I think athletes in general live in their own little world,” Kerr said. “We’re so emotionally involved with the season, we forget things.”
But other people take a more critical view. They say athletes are too ignorant or too insulated from issues; for example, having a financial planner makes economic policy and income taxes look much less personal.
“I don’t think athletes are too busy,” said McMillen, the former congressman who currently co-chairs the President’s Council on Physical Fitness and Sports. “It just doesn’t come up on their radar screens. I just don’t detect a big political conscience out there. It’s a coddled life.”
Steinberg, who encourages his clients to take an interest in politics, said, “One of the real dangers is that they get completely self-absorbed, that the world revolves around them–that they can be passive, and all the world’s riches will be bestowed upon them.”
He offered one example: Bengals running back Ki-Jana Carter, selected first overall in the 1995 NFL draft. Steinberg recalled Carter’s reaction when the player’s bonus check arrived.
“He said somebody stole his money,” Steinberg chuckled. “He said, `I thought it was $7 million, and this is only $4 million.’ I told him the `they’ is the IRS, and they can do anything they want.”
