Let's hope pickleball fans aren't single-issue voters, because both of the major US presidential candidates have utilized the sport in their fundraising and campaining efforts.
On the Left
President Biden's reelection campaign is sticking to two classic activities to engage with senior voters - bingo and pickleball.
Seniors for Biden-Harris is hosting a pickleball tournament in Virginia this week, targeting a key battleground state.
The Hill's report notes that seniors are typically very active voters compared with other demographics and likely serve an important role in the Biden campaign strategy.
On the Right
While former President Trump's campaign hasn't used pickleball events to sway voters (to the best of our knowledge), they have hopped on the custom paddle train for fundraising.
You can buy a Trump Pickleball Set featuring two paddles with the name "TRUMP" written on them, a case, and two balls for $118.
Interestingly, the person editing that site's copy seems to have confused the sport of pickleball with golf in the first sentence.
The product description on trumpstore.com reads: "Make your approach shot one that will really intimidate your opponent with the limited edition Trump Pickleball racquet set. Matching paddles for you and your teammate and and carrier set makes this a perfect gift for your pickle ball friends. Includes 2 balls."
Now that we think of it, this isn't the only connection between the former president, golf, and pickleball:
While we hate to bring politics to pickleball, we also can't help but wonder if either of the two candidates' pickleball-related efforts will have any significant effect on their results.
There are over 30 million players, after all.
