In his final column as host of The House, Chris Hall talks to three political strategists to examine the intersection of two of his favorite subjects: politics and baseball.
There is a saying that life imitates art. But for my money, there is another comparison that is just as true. Politics mimics football.
Politics and baseball are filled with tradition. There are many rules; some are written, and some are really just traditions of time.
Today, both are relying more on today’s metrics – data and statistics – to attract new supporters, and to win.
In football, those stats help managers decide when the infield transfer should be deployed, or put an extra one in the outfield to prevent the best strikers from getting on the base.
In politics, the numbers tell campaign managers which riders should visit and which campaigns promise to promote. They know how many swinging votes are available in each polling district. Bank parties keep data telling them the address of a supporter’s home, and where a voter lives who may be sure of being involved.
So it’s no surprise that many politicians and their strategists are also baseball fans.
There is a powerful link between running the tires and running a campaign, according to Anne McGrath.
“I think every campaign, or does its best to be, is now driven by data,” said McGrath, NDP national director and former man for both federal and provincial campaigns.
“The key is in politics. You have to find the people who support you and get them out to vote. So you have to know who they are and know where they are and know what they are. care for them. “
McGrath was an avid fan of the Montreal Expos. The club moved years ago to Washington and is no bigger than ever. But McGrath sees a lesson in the move, about the importance of not only maintaining a fan base, but finding new ways to bring new ones to the ball field.
“You have to know who your base is and you have to expand it. You have to bring in more people. And you have to do it in a way that is mindful of changing demographics and changing ways of communicating with find people and people interesting and engaging and motivated, ”she explained.
CBC News: The House 9:32 Take me out to the polls In one of his final shows, host Chris Hall combines two passions: baseball and politics. He talks to three baseball colleagues who happen to be insiders: Liberal teammate Zita Astravas, Conservative strategist Jason Lietaer and NDP national director Anne McGrath.
CBC News: The House 9:32 Take me out to the polling game
Jason Lietaer grew up reading baseball box scores and waiting impatiently for the weekend newspaper that included the stats for all American League players, including members of his hometown of Toronto Blue Jays.
Lietaer, a former Conservative campaign strategist who now runs the government relations firm Enterprise Canada, is a believer in data mining to gain insights on a player or campaign. But collecting those data does not guarantee victory in football or politics, he said.
Players on the field, or candidates knocking on doors, continue to play a key role in determining whether you win or lose. In addition, it is important to interpret these data correctly
“And I would say in politics, we are still struggling with some of that,” Lietaer said. “You know, is there one or two ways to read the data? How important is digital communication? How important is this piece of information?”
A key lesson is what the statistics tell you to do before the end of the game or before election night, to better adapt to the changing circumstances and give your team a better chance of victory.
“Sometimes you don’t realize that you are winning or losing an election [until] you have won or lost it,” he said.
“Sometimes the bottom of the ninth month happens before the game even starts.”
Zita Astravas is another political insider who spends a lot of time watching basketball. She has worked on both federal and Ontario Liberal campaigns and is now head of staff for Minister of Emergency Preparedness Bill Blair.
“I think statistics are one of the things that has drawn me to politics and baseball, and I think it’s one of the things that you can find common ground in,” she said.
“You do it every day on a political campaign: you look at different riders and you craft who are the best candidates, what your riding goals are, just like you do different players.”
It involves finding a hidden meaning in the numbers, an edge to cultivate on the field or in the hustings.
It’s all about hoping to answer the key question, McGrath says: “Did we knock him out of the field?”
