How does voting compare to watching the Superbowl?

One would think that there is a pretty big difference, but not if you listen to Sarah Palin. Her argument for voting for Gingrich is that it would be a shame for one person to take a commanding lead right away. Here is where the Superbowl analogy presents itself. If neither of the teams is your home team, which do you root for? To make things interesting, many people go with the underdog. You hope that the contest is close and just maybe the underdog will beat the odds and come out on top.

There are two significant ways that the analogy breaks down. First of all, an election is not a sporting event. It has real consequences. If your team loses in the Superbowl, you spend a day fretting about it and then go on with your life. On the other hand, we have to live with the consequences of an election. The second big difference is that an election is not a spectator event. The participants determine the outcome.

Granted, there are some similarities between the Superbowl and elections. They both seem to be run by corporations, especially now with all the Super Pack ads. Still I think there is enough of a difference not to mistake the one for the other.