Yeah I think it motivates you as people start to count you out. It doesn't make you play any harder because every time you go out on the field you give 110 percent but it does give you more of an edge mentally knowing that you were in the same situation because in sports you always find yourself behind.
Throughout the 20th century the Republican Party benefited from a non-interventionist foreign policy. Think of how Eisenhower came in to stop the Korean War. Think of how Nixon was elected to stop the mess in Vietnam.