What annoying trait do New York Mets owner Fred Wilpon and GOP contender Mitt Romney have in common? How about loving to rub their wealth in people’s faces, then wondering why they are not well liked?
After being sued by angry victims of the Bernie Madoff ponzi scheme for the ill-gotten gains Wilpon allegedly received in the scam, he slashed the Mets budget from 140 million to 90 million dollars. Wilpon’s son Jeff and other Met executives then ostentaciously charted a private helicopter to whisk them to the Miami Heat-NY Knicks game in Miami.
This week Freddie arrived at Mets camp and immediately flashed a big wad of bills at reporters, grinning “I’m ok–I’ve got fives.” When asked what hope he could offer frustrated Mets fans, he replied “The fact that we intend to own the franchise for a long time–whether the fans are happy about that, I have no idea.”
Really Freddie? The Mets just lost best player Jose Reyes without making any real effort to sign him, are predicted to finish dead last in their division, team executives flaunt lavish lifestyles while pleading poverty and you have no idea how the fans feel about you? You know exactly how they feel!
Meanwhile Mitt Romney squeaks by with a narrow victory in his home state over a religious fanatic who bashed JFK, birth control and going to college. Why isn’t he more beloved?
Hmm…could it be that a gazillionaire telling voters in a still struggling economy that “he too is unemployed” and “worried about a pink slip” while bragging how “I like being able to fire people” might rub some people the wrong way? How about trying to convince auto workers that despite his opposition to the U.S. auto industry bailout, he is on their side because “my wife drives two Cadillacs?”
Speaking of driving, what about telling NASCAR fans that while he doesn’t really follow auto racing, he “has some friends who own teams” while simultaneously making fun of the inexpensive plastic ponchos they wore to fend off the rain? Haven’t they ever heard of Brooks Brothers?
Yes, Freddie and Mittens have a lot in common–with each other, and Marie Antoinette.