On Pandering, Governor Shapiro Notes that You Cannot “Bullshit Your Way Through Sports”

One of my favorite things that politicians do is the shameless pandering. You go to Iowa for the caucus and you’re wearing a Hawkeyes t-shirt while eating corndogs or whatever they do out there. It’s similar to Brian Kelly taking the LSU job and then miraculously developing a southern accent.

We had Governor Shapiro on Crossing Broadcast Thursday and joked about sports pandering, but I thought this was actually a great answer:

“No problem cheering on the Pittsburgh teams… I’m thrilled that the Pirates are doing so well, but when they play against the Phils, I’m gonna root for the Phils. That’s how I approach this. I love sports, but you don’t bullshit your way through sports” – @GovernorShapiro pic.twitter.com/V6LUG5O8dr

— Crossing Broad (@CrossingBroad) May 4, 2023

Shapiro:

“Let me be very clear, you cannot bullshit your way through sports. You just can’t. I’ll tell you, if I was doing a podcast in Pittsburgh, and someone said ‘Eagles or Steelers?’, I’d say Eagles, and they could boo me or whatever. But this is my approach – I’m an avid sports fan, so if the Steelers are playing, not against the Eagles, I’m gonna watch that game and cheer for the Steelers. I’m pumped up for them. In fact my Lieutenant Governor (Austin Davis) is from Pittsburgh and his wife (Blayre Holmes Davis) works for the Steelers, she’s one of the executives there. So I have no problem cheering on the Pittsburgh teams, and I want to see them be successful and do well. For example, I’m thrilled that the Pirates are doing so well, but when they play against the Phils, I’m gonna root for the Phils. That is how I approach this. I love sports. But you don’t bullshit your way through sports.” 

Yes, that’s a good response. Under no circumstances should you pander, because blue collar Pennsylvanians will see right through it. Pandering might work on plastic bozos from California or New York, but not in the great Commonwealth of PA.

It’s funny, because John Fetterman had the same stance when people would rag him about the Sheetz thing. The guy talked mad shit about Wawa, but when he came to this region, he didn’t blow some Wawa sunshine up our butt, or flip flop. He just said he’s a Sheetz guy, and people here more or less respected that because he wasn’t going to indulge the locals with some fake stance.

Plus, as much as it pains me to say this, the Yinzers are really similar to us. They’re great sports fans and they know their stuff. Steelers and Penguins fans are legit. The Pirates usually suck so it’s hard to get a read there, but if I wasn’t a Philly fan, I wouldn’t mind being a Yinzer fan.

disclaimer: Crossing Broad does not have a political stance and does not give a shit about Democrats or Republicans. We had Shapiro on because he’s a local guy and Philly sports fan.

Even back in the day when we were just playing 1 on 1, I knew Jo had MVP level talent. #MVPIID pic.twitter.com/hMySYRcrxG

— Josh Shapiro (@JoshShapiroPA) May 3, 2023

The post On Pandering, Governor Shapiro Notes that You Cannot “Bullshit Your Way Through Sports” appeared first on Crossing Broad.