WASHINGTON — Former President Abraham Lincoln once said, “a house divided against itself cannot stand.” Of course, he was talking about democracy. But Vice President Kamala Harris this week will have to face that mantra in another historically American tradition: baseball.
The Los Angeles Dodgers late Wednesday cemented a playoff matchup that many Californians had been dreaming about for months, beating the St. Louis Cardinals in the wild-card game to advance to a series with the San Francisco Giants. The two division rivals will now settle their season-long fight for bragging rights as the better team on the ultimate stage, win-or-go-home October ball.
Harris, an East Bay native and former San Francisco district attorney, will be rooting for the Giants, her office confirmed to The Chronicle. But that won’t necessarily apply to the entire Naval Observatory, the vice president’s residence. Her husband, longtime Los Angeles resident and Dodgers fan Douglas Emhoff, will be rooting for their opponents, his office said.
Harris has worn her Giants fandom on her sleeve. In 2015, when Harris tweeted support for the Dodgers in their ultimately unsuccessfully postseason matchup with the Mets, she responded to a reporter on Twitter who questioned her fandom that her “loyalty lies” with the Giants.
But she has embraced both teams in recent years, especially as she became a statewide politician first as attorney general and then senator and as she married Emhoff. She caused a stir by wearing a Dodgers cap during a 2019 presidential primary debate, when she was pursuing her own campaign for the White House.
The support for each other’s teams has gone both ways with the Second Couple. Emhoff has worn a Giants cap himself at least once.
As for the politician next in line for the presidency after Harris, there is no doubt who she’ll be rooting for. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-San Francisco, opened her news conference last week by asking reporters, “Is this about the San Francisco Giants winning the most games ever?” Pelosi’s office confirmed the speaker will be supporting the home team as the series begins on Friday.
Tal Kopan is The San Francisco Chronicle’s Washington correspondent. Email: tal.kopan@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @talkopan