Democrat gubernatorial candidate Mandela Barnes is channeling his inner Obama with the most pandering NCAA Tournament bracket of all time.
Mandela Barnes clearly sees himself as the next Barack Obama. Back in the day, ESPN couldn’t contain its breathless adoration whenever the 44th president sat down to fill out his NCAA tournament bracket. Anchors swooned on air, and the network devoted wall-to-wall segments, graphics, and “expert” breakdowns of Barack Obama’s bracket. It was peak liberal media sycophancy.
Here we have Mandela Barnes, clad in a backwards woke ‘Vote Save America’ cap, desperate to recreate that Obama vibe, sharing his picks like a man who has just heard about the NCAA College Basketball Tournament for the first time.
In starting with the Sweet 16, Barnes removes every ounce of risk, analysis, or fun from the bracket. How can we trust Mandela Barnes when he won’t show us his opening round or round of 32 picks?
No first-round upsets, no second-round heartbreak, no picking the Cinderella stories. No 10 over a 7 or a 12 over a 5! Essentially, a chalk bracket with the top 3 seeds from every region advancing, with a 5 or 6 seed thrown in for good measure
The result? Of course, he’s picking the Badgers all the way. What could have been a fun flex in giving Barnes some humanizing depth becomes cheap, obvious pandering aimed squarely at the Badger State voters he needs in the primary. A prediction that feels rigged, lazy, and suspiciously convenient for a guy whose only visible research appears to be “On Wisconsin!” It’s the political version of “How do you do, fellow Badger sports fans!”—except he couldn’t even be bothered to fill out the full sheet or add a single ounce of sports analysis. If you’re going to make a bracket video as a public figure, fully commit to it. Don’t just give voters pandering homer picks.
