Politics as a Sporting Event

            Though it is nowhere mentioned in my copy of The World Sports Encyclopedia, politics as practiced in America should really be included as a sport akin to baseball.  And described as a development of the gladiatorial combats to the death as practiced in ancient Rome. Rome was later acclaimed for its grandeur, usually by historians who had never been inside the Coliseum as participants, and were more familiar with plumes and pens than swords and battle axes.

            As long ago as 1938, American politics was classified as a sport by Dutch historian Johan Huizinga (1872--1945). He observed in Homo Ludens, "Long before the two-party system had reduced itself to two gigantic teams whose political differences were hardly discernible to an outsider, electioneering in America had developed into a kind of national sport." But to regard politics as a national sport should in no way be construed as a downsizing of this non-stop, year-round activity with a multi-billion budget that will be increasing astronomically, thanks to the  generous stimulus package delivered in 2010 by the Supreme Court ruling in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission.

            For a century if not longer, sports in America have received far more attention from the public and the media than, for example, religion or the fine arts. When was a sermon on The Seven Deadly Sins, even by preacher-politico-Fox News guru Mike Huckabee, ever reported on the front page of all newspapers in the land? Or a revival of Palmira, Regina di Persia, my favorite neglected opera by Antonio Salieri, a contemporary and mutual admirer of Mozart and Beethoven?

            If politics is indeed a sport, and will in future presidential campaigns be so regarded, there here, as a service to journalism and the nation, is my lead of  a recent primary debate in Iowa:

            "During the final round of questions in last night's Republican Party primary debate of the seven remaining contenders in Des Moines, ABC News anchor Diane Sawyer threw Newt Gingrich a curve ball regarding school budgets that he promptly slammed out of sight for a home run toward the 2012 presidential convention in Tampa, Florida. It was a wallop for the record books, and immediately established Newt as the front runner in the no-holds-barred race to win the GOP nomination and go on to wrest back the White House from Barack Obama, the Windy City southpaw who in 2008 had come from behind to slaughter Senator John McCain and Governor Sarah Palin. Arising from the ashes of defeat, Sarah later hit the jackpot of celebrity with a historic triple play, becoming a Fox News commentator, Tea Party icon, and proud mom of perky Bristol Palin, top competitor in the TV smash Dancing with the Stars and author of the bestselling memoir, Not Afraid of Life."

            Johan Huizinga is best known for another book, The Waning of the Middle Ages. Were he alive in 2011, would he be continuing his studies of our present politics and culture, and be planning a sequel to be called The Waning of the United States of America?