Bobbleheads To Decide Mock Election at Ballparks
Will it be Bush or Kerry in 2004? Baseball fans from Minnesota to Florida will give an early indication of this year’s presidential race on Aug. 2, when Bobblection Night is held at seven minor-league ballparks.
The six teams owned by The Goldklang Group—the Charleston RiverDogs, Fort Myers Miracle, Hudson Valley (NY) Renegades, St. Paul Saints, Brockton Rox, and Sioux Falls (SD) Canaries—and the New Haven County Cutters (who play at Yale University, alma-mater of the candidates) will hold simultaneous mock elections, using bobblehead dolls as ballots.
Each club will give away from 1,000 to 2,500 bobblehead dolls per park; half will approximate the image of the Republican candidate, President George W. Bush, and the other half will use the likeness of the presumptive Democratic nominee, Senator John Kerry. As fans pass through stadium turnstiles, they will be directed to election booths. For participating in the voting, they will then receive the Bobblehead doll of their choice.
When one candidate runs out of Bobbleheads, he will be declared the winner of that ballpark’s Bobblection. The other candidate’s remaining dolls will be counted in order to get an accurate measure of the margin of victory.
Polls will close at 9 p.m. (EDT) and results from all seven ballparks will be sent to Bobblection Headquarters in St. Paul, MN, where the Goldklang Group will declare a victor based on number of states won.
Six of the seven clubs have home games the night of Aug. 2, with Hudson Valley hosting a special night for fans to participate in the election.
There will be Bobblexit polling and voters will be asked questions about important Bobbleissues that may have influenced their selection in Bobblection 2004. Some of these issues include: wood vs. aluminum bats, natural grass vs. artificial turf, Yankees vs. Red Sox and Cubs vs. Cardinals.