Chris Matthews, whose MSNBC program “Hardball” embodies a sports metaphor in its title, has been making another comparison of athletics to politics. It’s one that should certainly cheer fans of the presidential candidacy of Barack Obama.

In Matthews’ view, voters think like baseball coaches. When a pitcher is stinking up the mound, he says, coaches don’t spend a lot of time contemplating whether there’s anyone in the bullpen who can do better. The priority is to get the bad-performing player out of the game.

With major international firms based on Wall Street following one another into the tank at the same time a presidential election approaches, Matthews says voters are likely to follow similar logic by ejecting the political party in the White House to let someone else have a try.

It may be a simplistic analysis, but it does resonate. And it may explain why the Obama strategists are working day and night to prove Republican nominee John McCain and President Bush have identical positions on economic matters — and why McCain is working just as hard to prove he’s a different type of candidate.

The perverse part of this is that the worse America’s economy becomes, the better for the Democratic nominee. Like a backup pitcher waiting for his chance, Obama has to take at least some pleasure from the destruction of pension funds and retirement accounts that are key to the future financial well-being of millions of Americans. In a close election, our increasing misery may be his key to victory.

Of course, we would hope voters would take a deeper view. For one thing, world markets operate largely with indifference to the person in the White House on any given day. And to the extent that government policies help or hinder economic growth, there’s a time lag usually far longer than any presidential term. For example, there’s a clear connection between lax mortgage standards demanded by Democrats and the higher foreclosure rates now being experienced and blamed, correctly or not, for much of today’s market volatility.

Much of Matthews’ success in broadcasting can be linked to his ability to make clear connections between the actions of national and world leaders to the man on the street. He says bad times for our wallets spell good times for Obama. And he could well be correct.