I had a thought on politics that was too long for a tweet, and that I wanted to memorialize, so apologies for the self-indulgence here.

I’m sort of interested in politics on the level that all residents of Southern California are de facto USC fans. When the team is good, they’re fans. When its bad, they’ll find something else to care about (this is in contrast to say Cubs fans, who are going to make the team their life whether the team is miserable or good).

So if I say that I am nominally a rightwinger, hopefully you will understand that it would be impossible to call me a rabid rightwinger. People who know me know that I am not a rabid anything. I sort of think that at an aggregate level things function better when everyone feels responsible for making their own way in the world. But if politics were a bar fight, I’m kind of the guy that hangs in back and isn’t that crazy about getting beat up because one of his friends feels like pissing everybody off that night. I suppose in that analogy the Glen Becks of the world are the buddies that start bar fights. So basically, I have zero interest in going to the mat for the people who live to irritate other people, even if I might agree with some part of their message.

Having hopefully qualified myself as more of an interested observer than a dogmatic ideologue, I wanted to advance a thought I had after following the Massachusetts Senate race for the past few days.

President Obama is LeBron James. As a mere observation, that’s sort of a pedestrian thought. But I say it more out of its prescriptive nature. First though, the observation.

Both Obama and LeBron are gifted in a way that few others are, and to a degree that means that no matter how hard others work, LeBron and Obama will always be more talented. LeBron was a star in the NBA right away because he could simply play. At 19 years old he had an NBA body. Similarly, Obama was a player the minute he entered the Senate. He did not have to wait his turn. It was his turn right away. As each of their careers progressed, the analogy held. LeBron took his gift and became the game’s best player. Obama took his gift and became a party leader and eventually President. Obama has essentially reached the pinnacle in politics with very little experience and at a very young age.

But here’s where my thought sort of deviates from the obvious. Obama now needs to emulate LeBron in the way that LeBron has changed and improved his game. LeBron was the best finisher around the basket from the time he came into the league. He’s so big and fast that he can make baskets with guys hanging on him. It was his ability to go to the basket that put him in All-star games. He could also pass and rebound, but he was sort of a one trick pony when it came to scoring. But two years ago LeBron started to work both on his shooting and his post game. Diversifying his skill set has made him even more impossible to guard.

President Obama needs to diversify his game as well. He pretty much has the “big idea” public address down. The “Yes We Can” speech was probably the most exciting single moment in American politics since George Bush yelled “We can hear you!” into the megaphone at Ground Zero. But the President has also shown that he doesn’t have a lot else in his portfolio. Trouble with health care? He schedules a speech. Trouble with climate change? Go give a speech. Trying to get the Olympics for Chicago? Go give a speech.

In basketball if your opponent can only do one thing, you pretty much dare them to do anything but that one thing. For LeBron, defenses would sag off of him and beg him to take long jumpers. If you’re playing the best finisher in NBA history, you love to see him taking 20 foot jump shots. Unless your opponent learns to shoot jump shots, at which point you’re pretty much totally screwed. LeBron has improved his 3pt percentage in three straight seasons and now is at 37% which is better than good enough to keep defenses honest. If the defense has to guard you closer on the perimeter, it’s going to be easier to get to the basket. LeBron has his highest overall field goal percentage as a pro. Note that this rarely happens because most players learn to shoot the three, fall in love with it, and then refuse to go to the hoop (Vince Carter, your office is calling) which drives their overall field goal percentage down.

President Obama needs to find his equivalent skills that will make him impossible to guard. When you’re a phenom, you don’t have time to develop skills. You have to be good right away. Some NBA players spend years in college developing jump shots. LeBron didn’t have that luxury. Some Senators spend years on the Hill figuring out how to be power brokers behind the scenes. Obama didn’t have enough time to figure that out, and you can’t assume that he has that ability. Experience does matter when it comes to your total skill set and your ability to be effective. Natural ability will get you so far, but eventually people catch up with your skill and you need to figure out new ways to be effective.

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