When I was a child, there were only two sports that captured our attention. One was boxing and the other was baseball. Today you can watch multiple sports on fancy television sets. In my early years, radio was the medium by which we connected to both of them.
Watching the presidential campaign unfold reminds me more of boxing than baseball. Boxing is a brutal sport, just like politics. Some memorable fights lasted 15 rounds, and you could feel every punch through the words of the announcer. Men from humble homes chose boxing because it was their only chance to become someone. Their reward was either a championship belt and a modest purse, or a lifetime of crippling injuries with no financial rewards.
Watching former Vice President Joe Biden give the speech of his life at the virtual Democratic Convention last week was like watching the first round of what promises to be a brutal 10 weeks between now and Election Day. I recall men like Joe Louis and Rocky Marciano, who battled in the ring late into their careers. Joe Biden is at that stage of his career, and this is his last chance to show that he’s a champion.
Donald Trump is today’s version of the flashy newcomer who entered the ring with a lot of hoopla but was often defeated with a series of gut punches. Trump has three-plus years behind him in the center ring, but now he’s facing a competitor who may just have enough punches left to end the reality show in the White House.
Leading up to the Democratic Convention, the street talk by the Trump enthusiasts, and Trump himself, was that Biden was sleepy, too old and way past his prime. I heard claims that he was a socialist, and would turn the government over to the progressives. He was going to raise your taxes and turn the suburbs into places of urban terror. He was mocked for “hiding in his Delaware basement,” with the implication that he was afraid to come out and join the battle.
Jerry Kremer was a state assemblyman for 23 years, and chaired the Assembly’s Ways and Means Committee for 12 years. He now heads Empire Government Strategies, a business development and legislative strategy firm. Comments about this column? JKremer@liherald.com.