It’s the beginning of September, and it’s pretty clear that the community has shifted the focus of its attention away from politics. Now, it seems like all anyone can talk about is sports.
I get it. We’ve had a lot of difficult conversations the past few weeks.
Beyond that, there are a lot of exciting things going on for sports fans here in Ohio. The Ohio State University is at the top of the college football rankings again. The Reds are still in the hunt for a playoff spot. The NFL season is about to start, and the Bengals are playing the Browns in a Week 1 matchup.
But as a political science professor and sometime political columnist, I have a job to do.
So today, I’m going to do my best to meet the readers where they are. And I’ll do that by answering a political question that most sports fans have been pondering for many years, namely: How does my favorite sports mascot vote?
College Mascots
Our sample here includes mascots for major college teams in the Cincinnati region. Ohio State and Notre Dame are also included because they are good teams with substantial alumni and fan bases in our area.
Blue Blob (Xavier): Doesn’t believe in gender labels and somersaults across a basketball court with the same sense of uninhibited joy as Democratic vice-presidential nominee Tim Walz. Gives out free hugs. Verdict: Solid blue Democrat.
D’Artagnan (Xavier): Like his namesake from The Three Musketeers, Xavier’s mustachioed mascot is a fancy dresser who wants to keep things the way they used to be. He owns a weapon, but never carries it. Verdict: A never-Trump Republican who reads the Bulwark and wrote Ronald Reagan in on his 2024 presidential ballot.
The Bearcat (University of Cincinnati): High-energy mascot that brings a youthful energy and some slick dance moves to UC games. Wildlife experts describe bearcats as a vulnerable species with a declining population. Could be a Democrat in Ohio or a Republican in Cincinnati. Verdict: Tough one, but given the youth and energy, the Bearcat is likely a Democrat who only votes in presidential elections.
Victor Viking (NKU): Scored in the top 10 in ESPN’s scariest mascot contest. Much like the Northern Kentucky cities surrounding the university, Victor has really glammed up his look in recent years. At the same time, he carries a weapon and, like the Covington police, he is not to be messed with. Verdict: Supports Republicans in national elections, but voted for Beshear in the Kentucky governor’s race.
Brutus Buckeye (Ohio State): Tells college girls that he is economically conservative, but socially liberal. Verdict: Self-proclaimed libertarian, but is not actually registered to vote.
The Leprechaun (Notre Dame): Irish with a bit of a temper. Verdict: Like his entire family, he grew up as a Democrat. Now, except for his sister, who is studying anthropology at Oberlin, the Leprechaun and his entire working-class family voted for Trump.
Professional mascots
For this analysis, I included all of Cincinnati’s professional teams, as well as FC Cincinnati.
Who Dey (Cincinnati Bengals): Who Dey is a Bengal Tiger. He seems like he lifts weights, and for some reason, I get a Joe Rogan vibe from him. Verdict: Says he’s a lifelong Democrat, but also seems to say a lot of good things about Trump. Doesn’t want to give the government his personal data, so he isn’t registered anyway.
Puckchop and Twister (Cincinnati Cyclones): A pig in a helmet and an anthropomorphic tornado. Verdict: Both are independent voters who take their political cues from professional wrestling storylines.
Gary the Lion (FC Cincinnati): Gary seems to be a tiger who has dyed his hair blue and wears wings for some reason. Verdict: Like all fans of professional soccer, Gary is a socialist.
Mr. Redlegs (Cincinnati Reds): An old-fashioned-looking guy with a handlebar mustache. If this were 1920, you could count on him to vote Republican, but it’s 2025, and most people who look like that today are urban progressives who work at craft breweries. Verdict: Democrat who thinks the party is too dominated by corporate interests and donated to Bernie Sanders in the 2020 primary.
Rosie Red (Cincinnati Reds): An unmarried woman who has successfully broken the glass ceiling in an industry that men dominate. Verdict: Democrat. Hillary Clinton’s loss in 2016 still makes her upset.
Mr. Red (Cincinnati Reds): A running man with an oversized baseball for a head. Verdict: I honestly don’t know, as I’m writing this pretty late, and he has a baseball for a head.
Gapper (Cincinnati Reds): Nobody quite knows what Gapper is all about. Everyone thinks he is fine, but they are also quick to say that he’ll never replace their favorite mascot. Verdict: Gapper is a Charter Committee voter who plans to write in Steve Goodin’s name for all nine city council seats.
Mack Mariani is a professor of political science at Xavier University. Contact him on X: @mackmariani. The views and opinions expressed by the author are solely his own and do not necessarily reflect the views of his employer, his wife, his children, this newspaper, or fans of the University of Dayton Flyers.
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Mascots politics remind us that foam heads sometimes have sharper minds | Opinion
Reporting by Mack Mariani / Cincinnati Enquirer
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
