Watson0718bbThe big news in the world of sports this weekend is 59-year-old Tom Watson’s amazing run at a possible sixth British Open Championship (No. 5 came way back in 1983). As you know, most top golfers employ someone who knows their way around a golf course to carry their bag, and Watson is no exception. However, Watson’s caddy also knows his way around a political campaign, helping many a Democrat win elections.

Neil Oxman, who has carried Watson’s bag since 2003 (after his and Watson’s close friend Bruce Edwards had to give up caddying because of ALS, the disease that eventually claimed his life), is the cofounder of the Campaign Group, which boasts a roster of political clients that has included Al Gore (for his Senate run in 1988), Ed Rendell, Bill Richardson, and Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter.

Interestingly, the man whose bag the Democratic strategist carries is a Republican. In an interview with The Philadelphia Inquirer two years ago, Oxman pointed out, “Tom reads The New York Times and The Washington Post online. He’s reading Doris Kearns Goodwin’s book about Lincoln. He reads Tom Friedman in the Times. But he also reads conservatives like Drudge and Limbaugh.” Oxman called Watson an “old-fashioned, WASPy, Heinz-Rockefeller Republican. . . . On some issues he’s conservative, on some he’s moderate.”

Let’s see if Oxman points Watson toward a conservative or liberal approach to Turnberry’s links in tomorrow’s final round.