I grew up just outside of Washington DC. Like most people around here I'm a fan of our NFL team, and of its beloved, long-time coach, Joe Gibbs.
Gibbs taught me a lot about football. And about life. What I've realized recently is how much of what he taught me applies to politics, as well. Join me below the fold as I use my first diary to explore how the wisdom of Gibbs applies to recent political events.
Gibbs is a great believer in character. Character and intelligence. Especially in a quarterback. You have to have a certain amount of talent to play the game at all. But even the most impressive talent, the guy with the best arm, the greatest ability to scramble, if he doesn't have intelligence and character, he's not likely to lead you to a winning season.
I know what you're going to say: "Then how do you explain George W?" That's easy. There were a couple of Supreme Court activist replacement refs who made a bad call in the final minutes of the Superbowl.
And besides, its not a perfect analogy, but go with me on it, okay? Because there is some truth to it, especially to this next part.
One of the things Gibbs taught me about is something called a trick play.
For those of you not familiar with football, or with Gibbs, here's how a trick play works:
One team lines up on the field as though its going to run one of the plays that you would normally expect in that situation. The opposing team lines up to defend against that play.
If you're on the defending team you know exactly what to do when the ball is snapped. You know where you're going to run, who you're going to tackle or guard. You've rehearsed it in your mind, and you're primed -- fired up and ready to go! -- just barely holding back from moving too soon.
And then the ball is snapped!
Everyone explodes into motion. But for the defending team nothing is the way it should be. The guy you were supposed to defend isn't where you expected him to be. The place you ran to is empty. And the ball is somewhere totally unexpected, moving away from you too fast for you to follow.
You got caught flat footed, because the other team lined up for one play but actually ran a totally different play.
It's sort of like preparing for weeks to debate Mitt Romney on the plan he's been campaigning on for a year, and then facing a whole new version of Romney, who claims to have a whole different plan.
Running a trick play at the right point in a game can get you a critical first down, or even a touchdown. It can win you a game.
What it can't do is turn a losing season into a winning season.
Because the important thing to remember about a trick play is, it only works once. After that, your opponent is watching for it. And they're not only watching for that trick play, they're watching for trick plays in general.
So Romney's team used Romney's greatest talent -- the ability to change who he seems to be, like a chameleon changing color, then look you in the eye, and lie like he expects you to believe him. And for many people who were just starting to pay attention to the race, it looked convincing.
It was their big trick play. And it worked. Once.
They wanted to change the momentum, and they did. For a week.
But if they had asked Gibbs, I think he would have told them, don't blow your big trick play in the first half. Because, you know, it really makes the other guy mad. And he's got lots of time left to make up for that one missed play.
I think that trick play caught us all off guard. It was the first time I'd ever seen our quarterback caught so flat-footed. It was a shock, watching so weak a team score a touchdown against him. And their dancing in the end zone was truly ugly.
But enough of the sports metaphor... that last image was a bit too much for me. The thing is, I've seen Obama's face the day after the debate, when he was talking about the "very spirited fellow who claimed to be Mitt Romney." I sure wouldn't want to be that fellow in the next debate.
Obama has a strong competitive streak. He doesn't like to lose. And he especially doesn't like to loose to someone he can't respect. They won't catch him by surprise again. I, for one, am not worried about the rest of his debates.