In some ways, the scrambled state of college football this year resembles the current condition of our politics. In one important way, they’re different.
With the transfer portal in full swing, hardly a game goes by now that we don’t see players suiting up in different jerseys than they wore last year. When Georgia played Texas and Oregon played Ohio State, there were former Alabama players on both sides of the ball. The head coach and 13 players from the 2023 James Madison team now play for Indiana, which is 7-0. That’s just one of several cases where coaches have brought along star players to their new jobs.
A lot of people have swapped jerseys since the last season of politics, too. Dozens of prominent Republican officials, including former Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan and several who served in former President Donald Trump’s administration are supporting Kamala Harris. Robert Kennedy Jr. and former Democratic presidential candidate Tulsi Gabbard are supporting Trump.
Big money is taking a stronger hold in both the college and presidential games. College alumni groups now form themselves into something resembling political action committees to pay for the NIL deals that will attract top athletes. Some students still play for championship trophies, some for Maseratis.
Meanwhile, Elon Musk has promised to give a million dollars a day to people who sign his petition in support of the First and Second Amendments, and so far has handed out a couple of checks. Lots of money is also being thrown around in less splashy ways in this year’s campaign.
There have been new lows in public behavior in both sports and politics. On the same weekend drunken Texas fans threw water bottles and beer cans on the field at their game with Georgia, Trump called Harris a “shit vice president” at a rally in Pennsylvania and talked about the size of Arnold Palmer’s penis. People cheered.
There’s one thing we can say about college football, however, that we can’t say about the presidential campaign. On Jan. 20, 2025, a new national championship team will be crowned after a game at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. Sadly, we can’t be as definitive about the presidential election.
Appearing on Face the Nation Sunday, Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger said he expects all the early votes in Georgia to be reported by 8 p.m. on Election Night, and the final votes will be counted no later than the following Friday when overseas ballots come in.
The state parties, foreseeing a somewhat bumpier night, have girded for a legal battle, and dockets are being cleared for post-election court challenges. The two national parties are deploying their own special teams to deal with election night problems. It won’t just be the opposing sides in the election watching out for trouble, either.
After both U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene and Elon Musk questioned the reliability of Dominion voting machines, the company released a tersely-worded post on social media:
“Dominion is closely monitoring claims around the Nov. 2024 election and strongly encourages use of verified, credible sources of info. We remain fully prepared to defend our company & our customers against lies and those who spread them,” the company’s statement said.
There is reason to heed that warning. Dominion settled with Fox for $787 million in its lawsuit against the network for claims made after the 2020 elections, and the company has filed dozens more lawsuits in connection with claims the 2020 results were rigged.
Executing a now-familiar dance step, Raffensperger said an incident during early voting in Whitfield County “got blown out of proportion by people that like to use, you know, Twitter and other forms of social media” without mentioning Greene’s name.
There have already been some 165 lawsuits filed in connection with this year’s election, counting those in which Fulton County Superior Court Judge Robert McBurney ruled last week that county election boards don’t have the power to delay certifying election results, and Superior Court Judge Thomas Cox threw out seven of the rules passed recently by the State Election Board which could have caused delays.
But two weeks left in a presidential campaign is like two minutes left in the fourth quarter of a college football game. There’s time left for lots of legal action, last-minute appeals, political profanity and million-dollar checks.
