WHY WE LOVE JOE TORRE (AND HATE POLITICIANS)

By Richard A. Lee

In a Seinfeld episode titled “The Burning,” Jerry attempts to teach George – who has just had a disappointing experience at a company meeting – the value of leaving on a high note.

“Showmanship, George,” he explains. “When you hit that high note, you say goodnight and walk off… That's the way they do it in Vegas.”

It also is the way Joe Torre did it when he left his job as manager of the New York Yankees earlier this month.

Technically speaking, Torre did not go out on a high note; his team did not win the World Series. But when he walked away from a contract offer he considered an insult, he clearly emerged as a sympathetic character, perhaps even a victim, while Yankee management was widely regarded as the villain in yet another strange post-season drama.

“Is this the way the Yankees are going to run now?” the Star-Ledger’s Dan Graziano asked in an October 20 story. “A heartless business with no room for sentiment or emotion? Did the sons of George Steinbrenner inherit his ruthlessness without his warmth?”

Managing a baseball team is a far different job than holding public office. Yet there are some valuable lessons that politicians can learn from the manner in which Joe Torre conducted himself with Yankee management, with his players, with the fans and with the press.

First, few politicians ever get to follow Jerry Seinfeld’s advice to leave on a high note. Instead, their careers often come to a close when they suffer a defeat at the polls or when they lose favor with the powerbrokers who helped get them into office. For others, careers end abruptly due to scandal – as has recently been the case for several New Jersey officials.

But what are the qualities that make Joe Torre a much more likeable character than most politicians?

Torre is genuine, he is loyal and he is classy. He calls things what they are.

As a manger, he acknowledged when he was wrong and he accepted the blame when his team failed to win. How often do elected officials of either party stand up and say, “I made a mistake. My decision was wrong, and that’s why your taxes are still going up.”

Likewise, from the public’s viewpoint, loyalty among politicians appears to be a transient quality. Yesterday’s foes frequently become tomorrow’s allies -- and vice/versa. Just try keeping track of who’s on whose side in Hudson County for a few months. Far too often, it is opportunity that trumps loyalty.

Torre also was not indebted to anyone. His decisions -- regardless of whether they were right or wrong -- were based upon what he thought was best, not on what he needed to do to keep his job. Can one say the same for the majority of our elected representatives?

In addition, he understood the press. He answered reporters’ questions, even when they were difficult. He treated the news media as professionals and with respect. His relationship with reporters was neither adversarial nor confrontational.

Most of all, Joe Torre was authentic. Unlike many politicians, he did not have a “frontstage” personality for when he was in public and a different “backstage” personality when he was out of the spotlight. “Even if a politician’s (frontstage) performance accurately represents reality, it remains a performance and thus in some sense artificial,” Kathleen Hall Jamieson and Paul Waldman wrote in The Press Effect: Politicians, Journalists, and the Stories that Shape the Political World.

Research has demonstrated that people value authenticity in public figures. Focus groups conducted during the 1992 presidential primary showed that voters regarded Bill Clinton as a womanizer, but they supported his nomination. Even after intimate details of his sexual encounters were made public during his second term, Clinton remained a popular and effective leader, and he continues to be a much sought-after speaker and fundraiser today. Americans apparently value the fact that he is authentic (if not a personal role model). Unlike other politicians, what one sees of Bill Clinton is the real thing, warts and all. His backstage and frontstage personalities are the same.

In general, however, celebrities such as Joe Torre are at an advantage when compared with politicians.

“In an era of extensive citizen cynicism about conventional politicians, voters often see celebrities as white knights from outside the political process who are too rich to be bought and thereby deserving of trust from the electorate,” Darrell M. West wrote in Celebrity Politics. “This gives celebrities a kind of credibility that normal politicians do not have.”

West’s point is well taken. To compare a baseball manager to a politician is a bit like comparing apples and oranges. But the truth is both are public figures who deal with the public and the press in high-profile jobs. And since sports figures generally enjoy more popularity than elected officials, it might be wise for politicians to look closely at the Joe Torres of the sports world to see if they can learn a lesson or two that can help them do their jobs better – and maybe also when it is best to put on the hit-and-run.

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References

Edley, P., and Kern, M. (1994, Fall). Women Candidates Going Public: The 30-Second Format. Argumentation & Advocacy, Vol. 31, No. 2, pp. 80-96.

Graziano, D. (2007, October 20). The man leaves behind a thankful journalist. The Star-Ledger, Sports, p. 3.

Graziano, D. (2007, October 20). Yanks brain trust cuts out a big piece of team's heart, Managing to make a graceful exit just a little bit bitter. The Star-Ledger, Sports, p. 31.

Jamieson, K., and Waldman, P. (2003). The Press Effect: Politicians, Journalists, and the Stories that Shape the Political World. New York: Oxford University Press.

Seinfeld Scripts (n.d.). The Burning (retrieved October 21 from http://www.seinfeldscripts.com/TheBurning.html.

West, D. (2003). Arnold Schwarzenegger and Celebrity Politics in Celebrity Politics. New York: Prentice Hall.