Academic

Final Election Numbers: Obama Beats Phillies In Presidential Race

By Dan Filler

I was taking a look at a comprehensive list of Presidential election results today and noted a variety of details about the less publicized aspects of the results.  Among the big-name third party candidates, lefty retread Ralph Nader garnered a tad more than half a percent of the vote and outpolled Libertarian (so to speak) Bob Barr by about 180,000 votes.   Both trounced Cynthia McKinney who was carrying the Green banner.  And Alan Keyes, who I didn't even know was running,  trailed McKinney by a significant margin.  We thus see another remarkable result this year: three African-American candidates were among the top 7 candidates overall.  (Not that this factoid is likely to eclipse the larger narrative...)

But what caught my eye was a little further down the results list.  It appears that the World Series winner Phillies captured a solid 518 votes for President.  The Phillies outpolled Ted Weill, the Reform Party candidate (trivia answer: Weill's running mate was Frank E. McEnulty) and Jonathan Allen who ran (with Jeffrey Stath) on the HeartQuake 08 ticket. 

What would a Phillies Presidency have looked like?  There would be no need for a Vice-President, of course, since the team has a variety of players who could step up in an emergency.  (Query: would the team be able to add members after the inauguration, in case of injury or death?)  Would a Phillies Presidency have focused on the long ball - a few huge initiatives (socialized medicine! nuclear power in every home!) - or on nipping the corners of the plate (two dollars off every purchase of Propecia!  a tax deduction for the purchase of Mobil 1 synthetic oil!)

One thing's for sure.  George W. Bush would have had a heck of a better time hosting that President-elect at the White House.   Wait...so Phillies meant George Phillies, the failed Libertarian?

That's very different.  Never mind.

Full post as published by The Faculty Lounge on November 11, 2008 (boomark / email).