Money can’t buy victory in sports nor politics

Enough said about the turmoil in the House. Let’s talk about something discussed in most actual houses across America: sports.

For followers of sports and politics, New York has become a depressing place. The Mets and Yankees, the two teams with the highest payrolls in baseball, ended the season near the bottom of their divisions. The New York Jets procured a legendary quarterback who lasted just four plays in his first game before an injury ended his regular season. And our politics? In 2022, while Democrats overperformed in congressional races across the country, they tanked in New York.

Which brings me to my question for both sports and politics: Does money secure victory?

Consider our baseball teams.

In 2020, hedge fund manager Steve Cohen purchased the Mets for $2.4 billion. Cohen did everything right — if right is defined as unlimited spending to build an instant playoff contender. This season, the Mets had the biggest opening-day payroll in league history: $353.5 million. The crosstown Yankees had the second highest at $277 million.

But the top two spenders ended up mired in mediocrity. The Mets closed their season in second-to-last place in the NL East. Their team batting average ranked 26th in the MLB. They plummeted from fourth in hits last year to 27th. The Yankees fell from second in the league in runs per game to 25th. Their team batting average was 29th at a measly .227.

In case you believe the curse of overspending and underperforming afflicts only New York, consider the San Diego Padres. They had the third highest payroll in baseball, but finished the season only two games over .500.

On the other end of the spectrum are the Baltimore Orioles (third lowest payroll in baseball) in first place, and the Tampa Bay Rays (fourth lowest payroll) in second place.

As we like to say in polite circles in New York: What the f—k?!

To make matters worse, there’s the maddening tale of one of the best quarterbacks in football. This offseason, Aaron Rodgers signed a two-year, $75 million deal with the Jets. The team was proclaimed a lock for a championship, the 17 games in the regular season a mere formality. Those aspirations lasted just four snaps in the first game. Rogers suffered a torn left Achilles and will, in the absolute rosiest scenario, be back for the playoffs (if the Jets somehow make it there without him).

Turns out that money doesn’t buy victory in sports. The same is true in politics. Time and time again, we’ve seen candidates assemble Death Star fundraising operations that ultimately fail to bring them victory.

In 2008, Hillary Clinton was viewed as a financial juggernaut, as she spent over $232.2 million to defeat Barack Obama. We all know how that went.

In 2018, Beto O’Rourke shattered Senate fundraising records, amassing an $80 million war chest to defeat Ted Cruz. He still lost. In 2020, John Cummings — a candidate you’ve probably never heard of — raised over $11 million in his House race to defeat Alexandria Ocasio Cortez. AOC won by a landslide, with 71.6 percent of the vote.

Perhaps most egregious is the case of fellow New Yorker Mike Bloomberg, who spent almost a billion dollars on his 2020 presidential campaign and won a scant 58 delegates — “at a cost of more than $15 million a piece,” in the words of the Times. He would’ve been better off just buying the Mets!

So if money doesn’t necessarily guarantee victory, what does?

The question brought me to an interesting book by Daniel Coyle, “The Culture Code.” Coyle probes some of the world’s most successful organizations — from the Navy’s Seal Team Six to the San Antonio Spurs — for the secrets of their success.

He finds three key skills that are vital: Build Safety, Share Vulnerability and Establish Purpose. Building safety entails “how the signals of connection generate bonds of belonging and identity.” Sharing vulnerability requires developing a culture of shared risk, which drives greater cooperation. Establishing purpose builds a narrative of mutual goals and values.

Winning, in other words, isn’t about money. It’s about culture.

I’d add one more thing: Winning and losing is influenced not only by culture, but also karma. Even before the first regular season game, Mets star reliever Edwin Diaz suffered a freak tear of his right patellar tendon while celebrating Puerto Rico’s big win over the Dominican Republic in the World Baseball Classic. That’s about as unlucky a break as a team can get.

Luck defines political careers as well. I’m an example of that. I was elected to Congress in 2000 because my predecessor, Republican Rick Lazio, chose to leave a safe seat to run against Hillary Clinton for the Senate. Had he decided to remain, I never would have run. I caught a lucky break.

But in my case, and the cases of countless other candidates, even luck alone doesn’t ensure victory. You have to recognize it when it presents itself — you have to exploit it, manipulate it, shape it, ride it.

New York is a blue state that should have favored the Democrats in 2022. But like the Mets, Yankees and Jets, the Democratic Party found itself over-relying on the brute force of money rather than developing the nuanced strategy and political culture required to attain victory. And as the 2024 race heats up, the fundraising Olympics have already begun in earnest, with millions of dollars being solicited and spent like Steve Cohen’s checkbook.

Democrats can only hope that, this time, the results will be better.

Steve Israel represented New York in the U.S. House of Representatives over eight terms and was chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee from 2011 to 2015. He is now director of the Cornell Jeb E. Brooks School of Public Policy Institute of Politics and Global Affairs. Follow him @RepSteveIsrael.