An anti-Prop 23 ad takes a baseball theme.Texas and the San Francisco Bay Area aren’t just going head to head in the World Series this week — they’re also battling it out over California’s contentious Prop 23. The ballot measure, which would suspend California’s landmark climate law, has been heavily funded by Texas oil companies.
As the Texas Rangers and the San Francisco Giants geared up for the first game of the series last week, Rebecca Tarbotton of the Rainforest Action Network wrote:
Get ready, California — today ain’t just about the Giants vs. the Rangers. Texas is also challenging California to a major political showdown that pits Big Oil against the clean energy revolution … [A]s I’m rooting for the Giants to shut out the Rangers in the World Series, I’m also working to shut out Texas at the polls.
As if the underscore the contrast between the cleantech-loving Bay Area and oil-loving Texas, George W. Bush — every oilman’s favorite president — threw out the first pitch at last night’s game.
Right now the Giants have a 3-1 lead. Game 5 is tonight in Texas, and games 6 and 7 (if necessary) will be played in San Francisco on Wednesday and Thursday.
Could the outcome of the series actually affect the outcome of the election? If San Francisco wins tonight, might the all-night party keep some hungover voters from making it to the polls on Tuesday? Or if Texas wins game 5, might Giants fans be all the more motivated to stick it to Texas (oil) in the voting booth?
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More World Series/election fun: The Giants’ ace pitcher, Tim Lincecum, has become something of an icon for supporters of California’s Proposition 19, which would “legalize marijuana and allow it to be regulated and taxed.” He was charged with a misdemeanor for marijuana possession in 2009. T-shirts and signs around the stadium encourage Tuesday’s voters to “Let Timmy Smoke.” Others have lit one up outside the park in solidarity, as one Texan journalist reported.
