Sporting chances: can a presidential candidate's taste in sports reveal his or her odds of victory? You decide.

Sporting Chances

Candidate                              Profile of            Profile of
& Sport              Position          Sport                 Candidate

Howard               Daughter's        Unconventonal,        Ditto
Dean,                Coach             loud,raucous,
Women's                                gaining popular
Hockey                                 momentum,
                                       but still not big
                                       in the South.
Dick                 St. Louis         Old-fashioned,        Ditto
Gephardt,            Cardinals Fan     all-American
Baseball                               stand-by,now
                                       losing energy
                                       and fans.
John Kerry,          "Gear Guy"        Sophisticated,        Ditto
Windsurfing                            exotic, elitist,
                                       requiring a lot
                                       of cash just to
                                       hang in the
                                       game.
John                 Soccer Dad        Spry,youthful,        Ditto
Edwards,                               but still years
Soccer                                 away from
                                       being a main-
                                       stream Ameri-
                                       can favorite.
Joe                  Wait, is that     Wonky,                Ditto
Lieberman,           a sport?          colorless.
"The sport of
back and forth
with staff," says
his press
secretary.
Bob Graham,          Expert Putter     Slow-paced,           Ditto
Golf                                   meticulous,
                                       and popular
                                       with seniors
                                       in Florida.
Wesley Clark,        High School       Highly                Ditto
Swimming             Champion          competitive,
                                       grueling, a fast
                                       start is crucial.
Al Sharpton,         Former            Brash, flamboy-       Ditto
Boxing               Promoter          ant, slightly cor-
                                       rupt, cult of per-
                                       sonality is key to
                                       appeal.
Dennis               Third-string      Blue-collar           Ditto
Kucinich,            Quarterback       favorite; over
football             in high           by January.
                     school
Carol Moseley        Playing a         Involves hunting      Ditto
Braun,               different game    for something
Antiquing            than the          rare that you're
                     others            unlikely to fnd

Candidate
& Sport              Fun Fact

Howard               Gov.Dean was
Dean,                the main financial
Women's              force behind
Hockey               creation of girls'
                     hockey league in
                     VT high schools.
Dick                 During Cardinals'
Gephardt,            games,Gephardt
Baseball             must be dragged
                     away from minor-
                     ity speaker's office
                     TV to make floor
                     votes.
John Kerry,          Kerry was the
Windsurfing          cover model for
                     the 1998 issue
                     of American
                     Windsurfer
                     magazine.
John                 Edwards coached
Edwards,             his childrens'
Soccer               soccer teams for
                     12 years.
Joe                  Press secretary
Lieberman,           says Lieberman's
"The sport of        favorite team is
back and forth       either"the Yankees
with staff," says    or the Mets"--sort
his press            of like saying he
secretary.           votes "Democrator
                     Republican."
Bob Graham,          Graham has
Golf                 been known to
                     retrieve lost golf
                     balls from lakes.
Wesley Clark,        When the press
Swimming             came to a YMCA
                     where Clark was
                     swimming, an aide
                     asked photograph-
                     ers not to shoot
                     Clark in his speedo.
Al Sharpton,         First met boxing
Boxing               promoter Don King
                     in 1974 when he
                     traveled to the Ali-
                     Foreman "Rumble
                     in the Jungle" fight
                     to Promote a James
                     Brown concert.
Dennis               High school coach
Kucinich,            says, "Eight people
football             would hit him and
                     he'd get right back
                     up." He'll need that
                     attitude.
Carol Moseley        Press secretary says
Braun,               Braun doesn't have
Antiquing            much time now to
                     indulge in hobby.
                     She will soon.

Garance Franke-Ruta is a senior editor of The American Prospect.