Politics and Boating

While we tend to avoid politics in the editorial content of Scuttlebutt Sailing News, we did notice boating metaphors as part of recent U.S. presidential campaign commentary and rhetoric. Here are some excerpts from a story that came up on an ‘America’s Cup’ internet search:

• Sometimes the task of the government is to make incremental improvements or try to steer the ocean liner two degrees north or south so that 10 years from now, we’re in a very different place than we were.

• With one exception, all of the major candidates for president this year have depicted the United States as a ship taking on water, about to capsize if we make the wrong choice this fall.

• Mr. Trump’s promise that we can all jump on an America’s Cup yacht and sail our way to prosperity—or does he really mean all of us?—is going to tempt a lot of voters.

We don’t see this as a ‘Grow Boating’ initiative that will succeed.