Obama posterizes Magic Johnson

[Enrique]

http://www.thenation.com/blogs/campaignmatters?bid=45&pid=272728

(...)

Recalling his first year with the Los Angeles Lakers, the professional basketball star tells South Carolina radio listeners in a new ad, "We won our first game on a last second shot. I was so hyped. But the captain of my team said, 'take it easy rookie, it's a long season, it's a long road to the championship.' He was right."

The Johnson tosses his long shot. "Whether it's winning championships or a president who can lead us back to greatness, I'll always want the most prepared and experienced person leading my team," says Johnson, an old friend of Bill Clinton's. "That's why I'm asking you to join me in voting for Hillary Clinton for President.

Johnson's talking basketball. But the "rookie" metaphor hits Obama, who has only served in the U.S. Senate since 2005, where he would seem to be vulnerable.

There's only one problem.

As the Obama camp reminds us: "Magic Johnson Became The First Rookie In 11 Years To Start In The NBA All Star Game And The First Rookie To Win The NBA Finals MVP."

Obama's team is circulating this snippet from NBA.com: "In the 1980 NBA Finals against the Philadelphia 76ers, Johnson's performance in the series-clinching sixth game was the stuff of legend. Abdul-Jabbar was sidelined with a badly sprained ankle sustained during his 40-point effort in Game 5. Up 3-2, the Lakers could wrap things up on the 76ers' home court. Enter Johnson, the 20-year-old rookie. Assuming Abdul-Jabbar's position at center, Johnson sky-hooked and rebounded the Lakers to victory with 42 points, 15 boards, seven assists and three steals. He even jumped for the opening tap. Johnson became the first rookie ever to win the Finals MVP Award. The stunning effort exemplified his uncanny ability to do whatever the Lakers needed in order to win. In the Los Angeles Times, Westhead said of his amazing rookie: ‘We all thought he was a movie-star player, but we found out he wears a hard hat. It's like finding a great orthopedic surgeon who can also operate a bulldozer.'"

(...)

[MADem]

1. So, is Obama saying Magic is an idiot? He doesn't know his own mind? NT

[FrenchieCat]

4. NO,

Obama is saying that Magic may have been a "Rookie", but he won a bunch of titles..

And they can call Obama a Rookie too, but he may end up with a lot of the trophies.

In other words, Obama turned Magic's put down of him into an irony that favors obama.

[MADem]

8. You can 'win a bunch of titles' and still not be ready for the Hall of Fame

in your rookie year.

Obama should have left it alone and had Oprah do a spot for him.

It comes across as his saying that MJ is a moron who doesn't know his own mind. And MJ is the guy who historically serves the underserved, in some struggling areas, with top of the line facilities in neighborhoods where you never before saw a TGIF, a Starbucks, or a movie theater.

He is a rising tide, and he's done his share to lift those boats, and he's loved and respected for that reason, as much if not more than his basketball career.

It's a cheap shot, and it blows back on him.

[karynnj]

11. Isn't the hall of fame pretty much only after you retire?

There is nothing that attacks Magic Johnson here - it is countering the idea that Obama shouldn't be the choice because it isn't his turn yet.

[MADem]

13. From the court, though not always the game--KC Jones, for example.

Obama's "correction" of MJ is a slap. A short, sharp, loud, slap.

It comes off like Obama's elitist bunch think MJ is too fucking stupid to make an analogy.

That's my view, YMMV.

I just think it's a mistake to go jackbooting on a rather beloved and indeed HONORED guy who made a real difference in quality of urban neighborhood life. Sometimes, the best response is a different tack.

It's almost as though Obama, in what can only be wryly called a "rookie mistake," took the bait.

See, this story makes NO difference, really, in South Carolina. That's already happening.

Where it will make a difference is in CALIFORNIA, where MJ is Fucking BEEE-LOVED. Obama doesn't need to be seen as slapping the hero of the boards--both the ones on the court, and the guy who is CHAIRMAN of those boards that brought top quality restaurants, movie complexes, and city malls to their woefully underserved neighborhoods. And they know WHO did that, too. Make no mistake.

[Enrique]

5. I think Magic's words are more the Clinton campaign's than his own thoughts

just a hunch...

[MADem]

7. So YOU're saying Magic is an idiot? That he doesn't know what he means?

That he was led by the nose?

The guy is a highly successful businessman--he doesn't fail when he sets out to do somehthing. He's no spokesmodel, and he's not great at delivering lines, but I think he knows his own mind.

[Enrique]

10. reading a script doesn't make you an idiot or a spokesmodel

I believe Johnson believes in Hillary and I don't see any reason why he wouldn't agree to say what the campaign thinks (comically wrong in this case) is most effective.

But I have no idea if it is a script or not. I do know that Johnson's statement coincides with one of Hillary's major campaign themes.

[MADem]

14. This wasn't a mistake, IMO. At all. I think this was aimed at CALIFORNIA.

I think Obama's team made one of those 'rookie mistakes' in taking that bait and going after MJ, too. See post thirteen, above.

It may seem 'comically wrong' in the short term, but back home in Los Angeles, when it comes time to go to the polls, people are going to plainly remember Obama's people rather snidely shitting on their hometown hero, and they're not gonna like that.

[Renew Deal]

2. That was really a dumb commercial by Magic.

He was one of the best rookies in NBA history. Who thought that was a good idea?

[MADem]

9. But he wasn't ready for the Hall of Fame in his rookie year.

It wasn't a dumb commercial. Only someone who thinks One Swallow Makes A Summer would think that.

[VolcanoJen]

3. Well, Magic was one helluva Rookie.

That's just an historical sporting fact.

But, what's important here is that I'm not sure it's terribly persuasive for a former basketball star to compare his rookie NBA year at the age of 20 with that of a 46 year old Senator from Illinois.

Sorry, Showtime. Not buying it.

[DrFunkenstein]

6. Johnson Proved America Was Ready For HIV Superstar, Obama Also

Demonstrates how the old assumptions are being thrown out.

[MADem]

15. Not initially. That's revisionist/truncated history, there. At first, people were freaking out.

They were afraid that if they got hit by MJ sweat they'd catch the virus. People were IGNORANT. Some players were jerky, too--"What if I give him an elbow and he BLEEEEEDS on me???" That was still a discussion point as late as 1996: http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,984177,00.html

Magic's pure force of personality was what calmed those seas. It didn't happen overnight, though. His initial press conference, and willingness to continue the conversation even when confronted with belligerence and ignorance, helped enormously.

The fact that he's been able to beat back the virus and live healthily since those days hasn't hurt, either.

[THUNDER HANDS]

12. Johnson was the best rookie in NBA history