Obama as Soccer

One of the many ways to understand Obama’s win is through the competing metaphors of soccer and football.

Successful soccer teams are 11 semi-autonomous players working for a shared goal. Each player has a defined position, and there are limited set plays, but the game itself is fluid. Defenders attack, attackers cover gaps in the goal, midfielders connect and create, and flashes of individual creativity and a commitment to team create success. The coach sets a general approach, establishes strategies, and makes substitutions (limited to three over the course of the 90 minute game, 18 players are allowed to dress for international matches), but is otherwise confined to a small rectangle on the sidelines from which he can scream. As often as not, coaches sit on the bench and just watch, taking notes and talking to assistants.

Football, of course, is very different. A team of senior advisors on the sidelines communicate with the coach, who tells the on-field quarterback what to do, and the quarterback directs individual forays. On defense it’s the defensive captain and defensive coordinator who tell people where to go. Massive substitutions and specialists are brought in for individual plays. NFL teams are allowed to dress 47 players for every game. Football happens one play at a time in strictly ordered ways.

Political campaigns usually look more like football than soccer. The campaign manager (coach) gathers information from a host of experts (assistant coaches, the guy in the skybox sending down pictures), directs the candidate what to do next (quarterback getting the plays), executes, and repeats. Staffs are parachuted in and out depending on the situation (special teams and players for specific plays). And at the end of a grinding campaign season (game, football season), one candidate (team) wins.

Soccer doesn’t allow for that, the game doesn’t stop so players can huddle and talk about what comes next. Players often do expected things (a well executed overlapping run is a thing of beauty) but they don’t have to – indeed, it is in doing the unexpected that that game is won or lost. Good coaches gather talent who share the coaches approach and set them loose. This is what David Axelrod and David Plouffe did in the Obama campaign. They got people who shared a view of how campaigns should be run and let them do what they did best. Volunteers weren’t told what to say, they were asked what they wanted to say and encouraged to share that. Volunteer bloggers were told to write what they wanted to where they wanted to. The point was to get Obama elected; how that happened was up to the staffer or volunteer. It was an organic organization of semi-autonomous people working the best way they knew how for a shared goal.

As an aside it is worth noting that football players rarely smile, but soccer players often beam as they play the game.