By Elliott Brack, editor and publisher | The day after the Congressional shooting last week, my wife and I were in Washington, D.C. visiting our youngest daughter, who will soon be moving to Charleston, S. C.
Catherine suggested: “Let’s go to the Congressional baseball game,” and we did. What a great night it was!
However, it wasn’t easy. The game was started in 1909 to bring the members of Congress from the two parties together in a non-partisan outing. It’s a charitable affair, with proceeds going to local charities. A record 24,959 people attended.
But for the 2017 game, throngs of people came. Arriving at the Washington National’s stadium, a long, long line of people waited to get into the stadium. The line twice made a 90 degree turn. While most of the people had purchased online tickets, it took 30 minutes to get to the gate. Safety was the concern, as guards searched diligently every attendees backpack or pocketbook before anyone got through the security gate.
At Congressional baseball game, with Catherine Brack and John Lewis But they were having fun. Rep. Barry Loudermilk was the only Georgian playing.
Both teams scored in the first inning, with us arriving at the start of the second inning. The elected officials who were playing were decked out in mostly home-state outfits, and all wearing different colors. There was not a team “uniform,” and both groups looked like disjoined teams.
The whole stadium got excited toward the fifth inning, when the Democrats sent up a woman, Rep. Linda Sánchez, to bat…. with at least half the stadium on their feet for every pitch cheering her on…..as she got a walk. Later Rep. Nanette Barrágan did even better, singling on a hard hit ball to third base.
Oversize racer Teddy usually wins race at Nationals Park. He often trips Washington, Jefferson or Lincoln in order to win.
Eventually the Democrats won 11-2, bringing the series record to 40-39-1 in the Democrats’ favor. And with the large crowd in attendance, the two clubs raised $1 million for local charities. The weather was perfect—about 80 degrees with a slight breeze. What a great night for the elected officials, for non-partisanship, the fans and for charity
GEORGIA’S TWO SENATORS distinguished themselves last week. Senator Johnny Isakson hosted his ninth annual non-partisan lunch, with 400 pounds of barbecue coming up from Marietta. Some 84 senators showed up.
Senator David Perdue was quoted in The Washington Post as saying about combined meetings of senators: “We only do(this) about two or three of these a year. I’d love to do that once a week. That’s a concrete thing we ought to do.”
We’ve said for years that our Congress ought to be less partisan. You can just about trace the growth of partisanship to the jet airplane.
After all, in years past, when the Congress had to take railroads home, they stayed more in Washington. They got to know one another at parties, at ball games, and in their homes, as colleagues, and often friends. There was not so much acrimony or rancor between the parties.
These days with the speed of travel much faster, many officials feel that they must be back in the district, seeing people, pumping hands and raising money.
More sports among Congressmen, more barbecues with folks from both parties can help reduce the partisanship!
- Have a comment? Send to: elliott@brack.net
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