Two current NFL Quarterbacks–Peyton Manning and his brother Eli–recently made maximum donations of $2,700 to a Republican presidential candidate. Very interesting.
Here’s the not-so-interesting part:
They both went for Jeb!
Yup. Two pretty famous NFL players donated the maximum allowed by law to a Republican candidate who is polling somewhere between fourth and seventh place among fellow Republicans, according to whichever current poll you care to read.
Why is it that when a public figure of any sort that has the temerity to reveal his or her support for a Republican candidate, they always go for the squishy GOPe? They take great personal and professional risks of being attacked by the Left when revealing that Republican label. Is it because the GOPe candidate is viewed as “less Republican” or more moderate and therefore, less “scary”? Is the GOPe candidate the “safe” candidate that a famous person with some conservative leanings can afford to support without all of the fuss associated with, say, supporting someone like Ted Cruz or Rand Paul?
To be fair to the two NFL quarterbacks, they did not publicly release their their donation information or give a public endorsement of any kind; they simply did what most of us do. They made a monetary donation to the candidate of their choice. They just happen to be financially able to maximize that donation, and they have a famous name. Those two characteristics make a donor stand out when someone is perusing the list of donors supplied through the normal donation disclosure process. (I’ve linked to the story above.)
But there are public figures that DO make a big fuss supporting their GOPe candidates by going so far as to publicly announce their endorsements via pressers, written pronouncements, or appearances at campaign events for their chosen candidates. For example, actor Tim Allen recently and publicly endorsed John Kasich for President. That’s great, except most conservatives wouldn’t look twice at a Kasich presidency. Again, he’s a squishy one.
I just don’t understand it. I say if you are going to risk your professional and personal reputation on a political candidate: Go big, or go home!