For the fifth year running, President Obama filled out a men’s March Madness bracket. A noted sports fan, Obama’s bracket choices in the past have been ridiculed as political pandering—his upset picks have a tendency to come from swing states—but generally do quite well. His Final Four this year: Louisville, Florida, Indiana, and Ohio State.
This seems like Obama’s still in campaign mode (as some Republicans claim he is). We joked at a recent HPR meeting that he’s bound to have another semi-conservative Final Four with a Florida-Ohio State final; it didn’t quite happen, but it was close. I’ll cut him some slack and note that this is the same Final Four that I predicted, but it appears the president might not have moved on from the first term mentality just yet.
Obama also predicted a women’s bracket with a Final Four of Baylor, Connecticut, Notre Dame, and California, going back to his previous strategy: pick three one seeds and the best two seed. This bracket doesn’t have quite the swing state bias the men’s bracket does, but it’s also bound to generate less publicity.
There’s a chance this is excessive speculation at its finest, and the president’s track record shows he does know a thing or two about picking his bracket. Still, the president knows that a high approval rating does nothing but help his legislative agenda, so swing state support never hurts; if anything, there’s no loss in favoring Ohio and Florida teams, just potential gain. It’s another sign that our political battles are fought as much in the court of public opinion as in meetings. No blame should be pointed at the president, it’s simply the changing state of Washington. Even March Madness is political.
Photo Credit: The Atlantic Wire