screengrab
Jackson Berger, a Webster Groves High School senior, responds to the Kander campaign's tweet in a video.
Accusing a Cardinals fan of rooting for the Washington Nationals? Here in St. Louis, them’s fightin’ words.
Jason Kander’s U.S. Senate campaign learned that the hard way this week. It all started with a tweet from supporters for Kander’s opponent, Republican incumbent Roy Blunt:
See that curly “W” on Jackson Berger’s hat? It sure looks a lot like the symbol for the Washington Nationals. At least, that’s what Kander’s campaign manager Abe Rakov thought. Rakov could barely contain his side-eye in this mudslinging tweet pushing the idea that Blunt is a Washington insider disconnected from daily life in Missouri:
Here’s the rub: That’s not a Nationals cap. It’s an orange-and-black Webster Groves cap—as in Webster Groves, Missouri, the St. Louis suburb.
Rakov’s cheeky response backfired as people started accusing him of being as out-of-touch with the local scene as he’d insinuated Blunt is.
Political infighting, especially on social media, is nothing new. What really makes this story extraordinary is the clap back from the teen whose cap started the Twitter frenzy in the first place.
Berger, a senior at Webster Groves High School and a catcher on the baseball team, posted a short video on Twitter responding to Rakov’s tweet about his hat. In the video, Berger doesn’t sling mud back or tout the candidate he supports. Instead, he calmly and deliberately explains the situation:
“My name is Jackson,” he says in the video while wearing a WGHS cap and jersey. “I’m a senior catcher at Webster Groves High School, home of the Statesmen. I came out to make phone calls yesterday to encourage others to support Roy Blunt. Little did I know the Kander campaign would accuse me of being a Nationals fan.”
Then, with an impressive economy of words, Berger adroitly drops some important truths lost in the fighting over which candidate is more “authentically” Missourian.
“This is why people hate politics. Go Cardinals,” Berger says.
Rakov ‘fessed up to the mistake, telling the St. Louis Post-Dispatch that he’ll try to make up for it this Fourth of July.
"I've marched in the Webster Groves 4th of July parade enough times that I should have been able to tell my Ws apart," Rakov told the Post-Dispatch. "This year, I'll be wearing one of their hats in the parade to make up for this mistake. I apologize in advance to any Kirkwood fans."
Contact Lindsay Toler by an email at LToler@stlmag.com or on Twitter @StLouisLindsay. For more from St. Louis Magazine, subscribe or follow us on Facebook and Twitter.
