The “First Bracket” may have brought President Obama some unwanted scrutiny this past week, but a number of lawmakers — like most Americans — prepped their brackets ahead of this weekend’s opening rounds of the NCAA basketball tournament.
And if the presidential election were an office pool, Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) would have won the first weekend of play in a landslide over Obama.
McCain’s bracket has 14 teams picked correctly headed into the Sweet Sixteen, placing him in the 94th percentile after the first weekend of play.
The president has been less lucky. Despite having a brother-in-law who coaches Oregon State’s team, Obama fell short in a number of the first-round match-ups that kept Washington and the rest of the country distracted from work Thursday and Friday afternoon.
Part of the president’s weakness may have been his reliance on teams from the Atlantic Coast Conference.
When asked on the White House lawn Saturday morning before boarding Marine One if the ACC is overrated, Obama grinned and said, "Apparently so," according to the pool report.
Obama is still showing the powerhouse conference some love, however. He picked North Carolina as his national champion, and via body man Reggie Love (a Duke alumnus), Obama expressed his affinity for the school’s legendary coach, Mike Krzyzewski, after “Coach K” chided Obama for making picks on ESPN instead of focusing on the economy.
Other lawmakers have used their brackets to build up their political action committee (PAC) e-mail lists, while others are sure to represent (or over-represent) their constituents’ favorite schools.
House Minority Leader John Boehner’s (R-Ohio) Freedom Project PAC is hosting a contest through its website to compete against the House GOP leader’s picks. The winner receives a high-definition flip camera.“I spend most of my time battling Washington politicians who want to spend, tax and borrow our country into the ground,” Boehner said in a video on his website.
“But for the next couple of weeks, I’d like a new opponent: you. The NCAA tournament is here, and I’d like to invite you to put your bracket head-to-head with mine.”
And while The Hill was not able to get a copy of Boehner’s picks, the minority leader almost certainly had a joyous weekend: His alma mater, Xavier University, made it to the Sweet Sixteen, and the University of Dayton — which is inside his congressional district — scored one of the biggest first-round upsets, beating West Virginia 68-60.
Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.) also likely had a good afternoon: She Tweeted that she would be watching the Missouri Tigers’ game this afternoon, and the team didn’t disappoint, knocking off Marquette in the final moments of the game.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell’s (R-Ky.) bracket, meanwhile, was sure to project success for the Kentucky schools in the tournament. While the perennial powerhouse Kentucky Wildcats didn’t make the tournament, McConnell picked an all-Kentucky final: He projected top-seeded University of Louisville over the Western Kentucky Hilltoppers.
McConnell’s bracket almost proved prescient: Western Kentucky fell just short of knocking off Gonzaga in a heartbreaking loss Saturday night. Louisville, meanwhile, survived a scare Sunday night from a resilient Siena team.
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