LeBron James: The politics of The Decision
| Washington
All-universe basketball hegemon LeBron James is moving from the Cleveland Cavaliers to the Miami Heat. What does that mean for the Republicans鈥� chances of winning back the House this fall?
OK, OK, so maybe those two sentences are not exactly, you know, related. But it鈥檚 pretty slow in Washington at the moment, and now that Anna Chapman has gone back to Russia, we have to talk about the political implications of something. Plus, lots of politicians lobbied Mr. James in an effort to win him for their states. President Obama even made a pitch for his hometown Chicago Bulls.
So here are three LeBron-related political talking points. Discuss.
LeBron James can never run for the Senate in Ohio. Until yesterday, James was perhaps the most popular person in Ohio. He鈥檚 dropped to the least popular in a day. Talk about a slide in the polls.
It鈥檚 not a stretch to think he might opt for politics after his playing days are over 鈥� lots of stars do, even impossibly tall ones. Remember Sen. Bill Bradley? But if James ever thought about representing his home state in Washington one day, now he can forget it. Yes, we guess it鈥檚 true he could still run, technically speaking. But candidates whose main issue is defense against extraterrestrial invasion would get more votes.
At , Josh Green thinks the James move will help Ohio鈥檚 Tea Party-backed candidates, on the theory that the Tea Party is the party of anger, and nobody鈥檚 angrier right now than Ohio sports fans.
LeBron James 鈥� Florida kingmaker? In case you haven鈥檛 noticed, they鈥檙e having a very entertaining Senate race down there in Florida. You鈥檝e got Republican-turned-independent Gov. Charlie Crist running against likely GOP nominee Marco Rubio 鈥� who would have trounced Crist in a primary 颅鈥� and Democrat Kendrick Meek.
Prediction: they鈥檙e all going to vie to be the best friend of the most popular new guy in town, even though he鈥檇 make them all look tiny on the podium.
鈥淲elcome to the Sunshine State, LeBron James! . . . GO Heat!,鈥� wrote Crist on last night.
鈥淏oom! @KingJames lands in Miami. Now THAT is how you make an entrance,鈥� .
LeBron James = Harry Reid? Strained sports references are a staple of poliitical discourse. The megawatt LeBron move will produce more of them.
Here鈥檚 Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, appearing with President Obama on Friday in Las Vegas: 鈥淲e鈥檝e all watched very closely ... the LeBron James situation. I don鈥檛 know much about those basketball teams, but I know about a team that I鈥檝e served on now for the last 18 months. It鈥檚 been a good team. We鈥檝e been able to accomplish a lot.鈥�
In other words, Senate Democrats are like an NBA team, or something like that. But are they the Cavaliers, or the Heat? That鈥檚 the real question.
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