By Wayne Allyn Root
My Seattle Seahawks just won the Super Bowl in one of the most lopsided beatings in sports history. And few saw it coming. Over 70% of the $10 billion bet on the Super Bowl in Las Vegas and across the USA was bet on Peyton Manning and his Denver Broncos. But I knew better.
Perhaps many of my Blaze fans don’t realize that my career began as a Las Vegas oddsmaker and sports handicapper. It was so successful I was dubbed by the media as “the King of Vegas” and was awarded my own 180 pound granite star on the Las Vegas Walk of Stars. This was all before my political career began. Football was my life back then.
Today my career centers around politics. But I still have a thriving sports prediction business with thousands of clients who pay for my advice. I gave them my strongest possible “buy” on the Seattle Seahawks to win the Super Bowl. Seattle’s Super Bowl victory was one of the great wins of my career. How did I know? There is a fantastic lesson here for the GOP.
Politics has much in common with sports. In both politics and sports, winning is everything. And in both these endeavors, winning is about energy and enthusiasm. There are 32 teams in the NFL. The difference between winning and losing is razor thin. How did one team- the Seattle Seahawks- rise about the battlefield and dominate this season? The Seahawks are a “model” for the valuable and unique role of energy and enthusiasm providing a winning edge.
Seattle gets its energy and enthusiasm from “the 12th man”- their crazed fans. There are 11 men on a football field at any one time (for each team). The “12th man” is an invisible energy force produced by the fans, that gives a team energy, inspiration, and momentum. It is a well-known fact in sports- fan intensity creates momentum. It changes the outcome of games.
Seattle has the loudest proudest craziest fans in all of sports. They are so loud they caused an earthquake- literally. http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2013/12/03/248566190/seahawks-fans-cause-earthquake-set-noise-record They own the Guinness Book of World Records for loudest fans. http://www.guinnessworldrecords.es/news/2013/9/seattle-seahawks-break-record-for-loudest-stadium-crowd-roar-51331 They are the only NFL team to fly a “12th man” flag- to represent and acknowledge the importance of their fans. http://www.seahawks.com/12th-Man/flag-raisers.html Boeing has even created a “12th man” 747 airplane. http://travel.yahoo.com/blogs/compass/boeing-celebrates-seahawks-with-12th-man-747-235234752.html Seattle celebrates and embraces it’s most loyal fans. The Seahawks understand that without the energy of their crazed fans, they’d be just another NFL team. That “12th man” is the razor thin edge Seattle needed to win the Super Bowl and become one of the great teams in NFL history.
Who is the GOP’s 12th man? Well it sure isn’t the green jacket wearing country club Republicans. Or the “moderate” wishy-washy, stand-for-nothing Northeast Republicans. Or the cowardly Republicans who want to apologize to Obama every time he walks in the room.
To paraphrase the famous line from the days of Bill Clinton…It’s the Tea Party, stupid. The GOP’s energy, enthusiasm and courage is found in the true blue, patriotic, conservative base called the Tea Party. The GOP’s “12th man” has the same qualities as the Seattle Seahawks fans- a faith in victory…a belief in the right principles…a love for party and country…a passion for the fight to save America…an intensity…and energy found nowhere else. They are the razor thin edge of the Republican Party.
Like the NFL, winning is very difficult in American politics. We are living in a nation sharply divided. Every election is fought and contested in a few key districts and battleground states. Elections are won based on intensity, energy and turnout.
Like Seattle’s “12th man” the Tea Party led the GOP to an earthquake- literally. In 2010 the GOP shocked the experts by winning a historic record-setting landslide. It was due to the incredible energy and intensity of the Tea Party.
But this is where the story changes. The GOP needs to learn a lesson from the Seahawks. Seattle embraces their most loyal and intense fan base. Whereas the GOP establishment does not.
The biased leftist mainstream media has painted the Tea Party as “extreme,” “radical” “crazy” and even “terrorists.” This was a purposeful plan right out of the Saul Alinsky playbook. They needed to slander, denigrate and destroy the Tea Party, before the Tea Party destroyed Obama’s agenda.
But Obama and the Democrats weren’t alone in this goal to destroy the GOP’s “12th man.” Big business was central to the plan too. Big business loves big government and the crony capitalism that comes with it. Big business loves corporate welfare and thousands of new regulations. They have the armies of lawyers, lobbyists and accountants to deal with them. But it puts small business (their competitor) out of business. So big business, big GOP donors, lobbyists, lawyers, and the Chamber of Commerce all got into bed together with Obama and the mainstream media to try to slander and ruin the Tea Party.
Now the GOP establishment is running away from their own base. They want their most loyal supporters to go away. Leaders like John Boehner, Mitch McConnell, John McCain, Karl Rove, and Chris Christie hate the Tea Party. But there’s a problem- the GOP can’t win elections without their “12th man.” Without our energy, passion, enthusiasm and intensity they are just another losing political party. We are the GOP’s winning edge.
The GOP needs to learn a lesson from the Super Bowl champion Seattle Seahawks. The GOP must celebrate and embrace their loyal base of fans. Love your “12th man.” Feed off our intensity. Only our energy, enthusiasm and passion will lead you to victory. We are the GOP’s pounding heart…on steroids.
Without us, you’re just another losing party.
