Joe Manchin Earns Coveted Sports Man Endorsements from Nick Saban, Bob Huggins, and Jerry West

Alex Shultz
Updated
Manchin, like the Los Angeles Clippers, is lucky he's in the good graces of The Logo.

Joe Manchin, the lone Democrat who voted to confirm Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court, is locked in a competitive re-election campaign in West Virginia against state attorney general Patrick Morrisey, the Republican challenger who—whatever you think of Manchin—manages to make the incumbent sound like a Mountain State Bernie Sanders by comparison.

Knowing that every vote counts, Manchin asked for some help from his famous West Virginian Sports Friends—Alabama football coach Nick Saban, West Virginia basketball coach Bob Huggins, and Los Angeles Clippers executive Jerry West—each of whom proceeded to toss a touchdown pass, lob an alley-oop, etc., in the direction of the embattled senator via their surprise appearances in a TV spot.

As a title for this ad, "Coaches" is only technically true. It's especially strange for West, who spent three years in the late '70s coaching the Lakers, but is primarily known for (1) being a hall of fame player, (2) his reputation as a top-notch executive, and (3) having his silhouette serve as the NBA logo. Yes, this is the setup for an easy Manchin punchline: It makes sense that his campaign would play it fast and loose with the ad title, since calling him a "Democrat" is also only technically true. Slam dunk!

It is unclear whether these endorsements will have any effect on the race. Huggins is the lone Sports Friend who's currently overseeing a program in the state of West Virginia, which might count for something. Jerry West is Jerry West—an affable old gentleman with legit West Virginia roots who is uniquely capable of not getting dragged on the Internet for associating himself with Manchin's stink. Saban, though, coached the Crimson Tide to a 33-23 win over West Virginia four years ago, which is not nearly enough time for any rabid college football fanbase to forgive and forget. If anything, he probably costs Manchin votes.

As for why these three would choose to endorse Manchin? It's possible that they buy in to his aw-shucks, faux-bipartisan politics, which would be a bummer. But it's also possible they made the same calculation Taylor Swift presumably did in Tennessee: that the Democrat is not ideal, but the Republican is truly awful, and in life, we all must make choices. Also, Saban and Manchin are longtime family friends, and they took a secret blood oath as teenagers to complete a silent takeover of Appalachia and form their own country by 2030.

One part of that sentence isn't true, but which is it? That's up to you to decide. Either way, can't be much worse than electing Morrisey.