Obama Pledges His Support to the Phillies; Rays Players Endorse Obama Anyway

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↵With two swing states (although Barack Obama has a 10-point hammerlock on Pennsylvania at this point) represented in the World Series, obviously the most vital topic on the tip of the candidates tongues has to be who they’re rooting for. This is the type of stuff that makes or breaks elections. ↵↵Over a week ago, Barack Obama, a diehard White Sox fan, pledged his support in these MLB playoffs to the Phillies. His reasoning was this:↵

↵↵⇥“I think that I’m going to have to root for Philly potentially because my campaign manager is a fanatical Phillies fan and I don’t want him mad at me for the next few weeks.”↵↵

Fair enough, Senator. And we dare say more savvy than Sarah Palin’s approach of siding with both teams. But despite Obama’s support of the Phillies, yesterday in Florida, six Rays players came out to endorse him:↵↵⇥Today he found himself at a rally at George M. Steinbrenner Field in Tampa, and, well, six players from the Rays walked out — to thunderous applause — to endorse him. (For the record: outfielders Jonny Gomes and Carl Crawford, and Fernando Perez, the pitchers David Price and Edwin Jackson, and Cliff Floyd, the designated hitter.)↵⇥↵⇥“I’ve said from the beginning that I am a unity candidate, bringing people together,” he said. “So when you see a White Sox Fan showing love to the Rays. And the Rays showing some love back – you know we are on to something right here.”↵⇥

↵↵Rays fans have to be deeply troubled by this: Their players shaking hands with a guy who once served on an education board with a reformed terrorist. Does that not make the players guilty of terrorism by association? Quick: We’re gonna need some robocalls in the Tampa-St. Pete area warning them of who the Rays are associating themselves with. Any fan will understand that the real problem facing the Rays this week isn’t the impending Cole Hamels Crisis and how the team will deal with that on the field, but rather who they’re spending their free time paling around with.↵